David Xadashi
by SF64Rules91
Summary: Meet David Xadashi—an intelligent but lonely Japanese/British teenager who takes up Duel Monsters after his 14th Birthday in order to try and earn the respect of his peers. As he plays the game and faces his biggest rival in a Duel Monsters contest at school, David soon becomes chosen by a mysterious entity to command a new, powerful monster unlike anything he's ever seen or used.
1. The Robotics Genius

This story was done in collaboration between me, Jriddle41 (Sodormatchmaker on DeviantART), and DaveMan1000 (both here and on DeviantART), and we own the OCs that are used in the story. Everything else belongs to their respective owners:

Thomas and Friends (c) Hit Entertainment and Mattel

The Railway Series (c) Rev Wilbert Awdry

Yu-Gi-Oh! (c) Konami

Character of David Xadashi (c) DaveMan1000

NOTE 1: This is a 3~4 chapter story focused on the character David Xadashi, who will become a main character in a later spin-off story focused on Matt Fudo and his friends.

NOTE 2: There will some Japanese writing in this story (provided by DaveMan1000), because David occasionally speaks Japanese.

NOTE 3: This new story is rated K10 for mild violence and some mild language.

* * *

Opening up in the city of '**Manchester - England**', all was very quiet for a Monday morning in the first official week of September. Of course, being the first week of September meant it was also a new school year.

(elsewhere…)

Outside a nice little home, the voice of a woman could be heard echoing from inside the building…

"David!" The female voice called out, "It's time to get up!"

(inside…)

Inside one bedroom of the house, the bed was currently not occupied by whoever slept in it.

"Today is your first day of school, darling!" The woman's voice continued, "Come down for breakfast!"

Over at the nearby desk, a half Japanese/half British teenage boy, aged 13, was busy working on something mechanical. The boy had aqua blue hair and wore computer-style glasses, with several lines of binary code scrolling down the inside of the lenses. His clothing consisted of an open purple jacket, blue shirt, dark blue trousers, and black boots. Apparently, the boy was so busy that he didn't hear the voice coming from downstairs.

"David!" The woman's voice called again, "It's 7:15! You have to catch your bus soon! Come downstairs and eat breakfast!"

At last, the teenage boy (David) looked up from his work, hearing the voice properly. Realizing that he had to be ready to catch his bus for school soon, he sat up, raised his glasses, and used two fingers from his left hand to massage his tired eyes.

"A school day," David grumbled tiredly, before slipping into some Japanese, "(悲しいかな、仕方がない…) Kanashī ka na, shikataganai… (Alas, it cannot be helped…)"

(elsewhere…)

In the kitchen, David's Mother Futaba, her husband and David's Father Ren, and their youngest daughter Gabriella were all waiting for David to arrive.

"Oh, where is he?" sighed Futaba.

"Here I am!" announced David, accidentally sliding past the kitchen, "Waaah!"

***CRASH!***

"No running in the hall!" scolded Ren.

"My apologies, Dad!" The voice of David replied back.

David slowly walked backwards until he was in the doorway leading into the kitchen. There was an embarrassed smile on his face.

"S-Sorry for keeping you all waiting," The aqua blue-haired boy apologized, walking inside and taking his seat at the table, "I…somewhat misplaced my track of time," He then looked at the baby in the highchair, "Good morning, Gabriella."

Suddenly, David let out a tired yawn, which caused Gabriella to giggle at her older brother's antics. His Mother, however, was not exactly amused by it.

"Don't tell me you kept yourself up working on yet another invention," frowned Futaba, seeing the yawn from her oldest child, "It was a school night, too."

"I apologize, Mom, but I desperately required to get it finished," insisted David, eating his share of scrambled eggs.

"Well now, sport, you think you'll show it to us when it's done?" asked Ren, sounding interested.

"Of course Dad; an artist is always grateful when he has an audience for his work" answered David, drinking down his glass of milk quickly. He then looked at the clock while getting up from his seat, "Hey, it's 7:20! I have just enough time to perfect some additional progress on my latest invention before catching my bus."

With that said, the aqua-haired boy left the kitchen for his room - but he hadn't even finished his breakfast.

"David, you haven't-!" Futaba objected, but was too late to stop her older child, "Oh dear… That son of mine; always buried in his gizmos, robotics, you name it,"

"And guess where he gets his love for gizmos and such?" Ren chuckled, nudging his wife.

"Uh-huh, right."

(elsewhere…)

Back in David's room, David had resumed work on his latest robotics invention.

_"My name is David Xadashi - but my friends often refer to me as Dave_," narrated David, "_For as long as my memory can recall, I was always different than most of the other kids my age_."

A flashback ensued.

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

Living in the city of '**Shibuya, Tokyo - Japan**', Young David was out exploring the wonders of the massive Japanese city with his parents.

"_I was born in '**Shibuya, Tokyo**'_," continued David, "_My Mother is British, and my Father is Japanese. I studied Japanese in school, and I eventually developed a deep seeded passion for the art of robotics. You could thank my Dad for it, too_."

(new scene…)

A plane was shown leaving Japan below, and Young David could be seen looking out the window. He was sad he was leaving his old home, but there was no helping it when his Father got a job in the United Kingdom.

"_When I was of ten years old, we left Japan for the United Kingdom. I was saddened to leave my old home, but was certain I would fit in my new home and make plenty of new friends_."

(new scene…)

During his first day at a new school in Manchester, Young David approached some of the children at the playground.

"(こんにちは) Kon'nichiwa," he greeted in Japanese, shyly, "M-My name is David."

"Kon-ni-chi-wa?" A young boy quizzed, trying to sound the word out, "What does that even mean?"

"Oh, It means '_hello_'."

"That sounds really weird," A second young boy remarked, "You also talk weird."

Young David was surprised, "(何?) Nani? (What?)" he peeped, again speaking Japanese.

"There you go again, saying words that we don't get," A young girl huffed, "Sorry, but we'd rather play with kids we can actually understand."

From there, many of the kids went on to ignore poor Young David; a couple of boys also began to pick on him over his manner of speech and mannerisms.

"_Unfortunately, my initial impression of British school life wasn't entirely a grand one_," narrated David, sounding unhappy, "_Eventually, believing I simply could not belong with the other kids, I began spending the majority of my time outside school in my room, which also doubled as my private laboratory, where I was able to project my passion for robotics into any form I desired_."

Inside his room after school, and doing his homework, Young David began to work on inventions during his spare time.

**END FLASHBACK**

* * *

The flashback came to an end.

"_Of course, just because I was picked on a lot in Memorial School and Middle School, doesn't mean I didn't make any friends_," David narrated on, as the real him continued with his robotics work, "_I have two best friends; Janice Kings and Sean Smith. Sean shares my love for robotics, and even assists me time-to-time with more ambitious projects. Janice, meanwhile, is a really pleasant girl who often stands up for me whenever others feel the need to openly try and get under my presumably delicate skin_."

Eventually, the aqua blue-haired boy looked towards his nearby alarm clock and noticed that the time was reading **'7:45',** which meant it was time to leave for the bus.

"Time to catch my bus," David remarked to himself, getting up from his desk, "High school… Meh, but what can be done about it?"

With that being said, he grabbed his backpack and left his room.

(elsewhere…)

At the bus stop, two teenagers were waiting for not only the bus, but also for a friend of theirs to show up:  
-The first teenager (Sean), age 14, was a somewhat nerdy-looking boy with short, curly red hair and glasses.  
-The second teenager (Janice), also age 13, was a pretty-looking girl with long blonde hair with a few purple streaks.

"Greetings!" The voice of David called out, causing the two teenagers to turn towards the source.

As expected, David was running towards his two best friends. He was all out of breath when he finally caught up with the two.

"Almost late for the bus?" teased Janice, folding her arms while watching David lean forward while huffing and puffing.

"I-Indeed," admitted David, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "I was immersed in my latest robotics endeavor."

"Another one?" asked Sean with interest, "Do you mind if I take a peek at it when the first day is over?"

"Your input would be spectacular as per normal, Sean," accepted David, "I always appreciate your expertise in the field."

Janice had a question, "Say, Dave, since your Birthday's coming real soon," she said, "are you expecting anything special from your parents this year?"

"Nothing that I'm particularly holding out my hopes for," answered David, shaking his head.

"Just the same old, same old from your folks?" pondered Sean. When David nodded, the red-haired nerdy boy chuckled, "Why am I not the least bit surprised?"

"Yes, keep reciting that witty remark of yours, wise guy," deadpanned David, just as the school bus finally pulled up, "Now, come on."

The bus doors opened, and the aqua blue-haired boy and his two best friends climbed aboard.

(elsewhere…)

Inside Manchester High School, the hallways were bustling with activity. Students, male and female, were roaming around whilst minding their own business. At his new locker, David was currently setting his belongings inside when Sean scampered up.

"David! You have gotta come and see something in the cafeteria!" exclaimed Sean, out of breath.

"Sean?" quizzed David, "What's the matter?"

"Just come with me!"

And so, deciding to see what was going on, the aqua blue-haired boy followed his friend down the hallway.

(elsewhere…)

In the cafeteria, a whole crowd had gathered around one of the tables, and a male voice could be heard boasting in the middle of the crowd…

"I am the level-up King!" The voice (male) yelled out.

In the center, a burly teenage boy with spiky black was shown looking pleased with himself, while on the other end of the table, another boy was looking upset.

"You lose, squirt," The burly boy smirked.

"Dang…" The other boy mumbled, "I lost."

"Way to go, Vincent!" One lean (and mean)-looking boy praised, while his nearby friends were applauding, "You rule!"

"Yes, I know," The burly boy, named Vincent, said smugly, folding his arms proudly.

Meanwhile, David and Sean both arrived in the cafeteria, noticing the large crowd.

"Hey, what's happening?" Sean asked Janice (who was in the crowd).

"Vincent has defeated another player in a game of Duel Monsters, that's what," Janice answered in dismay.

"Wait, Duel Monsters?" asked David, "What's that?"

"Only THE most popular trading card game in the world!" A boy in the audience answered, "It was created by the famous Discord J. Crawford and released worldwide, and is based on the same game from the popular Yu-Gi-Oh! anime AND manga."

"Wait, created by Discord J. Crawford?" David asked once more.

"The very one," A girl in the audience confirmed, "Vincent Stevens, an 11th grader, here is a big time fan and player of the game, winning a few minor tournaments around the city during his time at this school."

"And the self-proclaimed '_Level-Up King_'," A second girl added with a giggle.

"Self-proclaimed?" mused David, "I kind of figured that; Vincent-kun always was a cocky, arrogant boy since the day I met him many moons ago."

"I'm not '_self-proclaimed_'!" The voice of Vincent cut in, "I '_am_' the level-up King!"

The audience broke apart, allowing Vincent (who was 16-years old) and his buddies to walk out and approach David.

"You think you're so good at the game, Robo-boy?" The spiky black-haired boy growled, attempting to intimiate David.

David stood his ground, "W-Well, I-!"

"Then why not try your luck at fighting me?" suggested Vincent, motioning to the nearby table, "We still have half-an-hour or so before the bell rings, so you and I can have a quick match—emphasis on quick."

"But I lack a Deck, Vincent-kun," protested David, "I've only learned of the game at this very moment."

"Ha! What a loser!" One of Vincent's friends (a lean, spiky red-haired boy) mocked, "He doesn't know about the game!"

"Furthermore," Another of Vincent's friends (a long haired boy), "he's speaking more of those words we don't understand!"

"Quite right," agreed Vincent, before looking down at David, "Tell you what; you get yourself a Deck, and I'll take you on. Of course, I know you'll lose either way, because I'm the level-up King!"

And the spiky black-haired boy and his group of friends walked away laughing haughtily, resulting in the crowd leaving and David looking rather upset.

"Hey, don't let Vincent get to you," advised Sean.

"Yeah, he's just a grade A jerk!" added Janice.

"Vincent-kun has been the bane of me ever since I came to England years ago," sulked David, "He's also the reason why nobody aside from the two of you have ever approached me with the offer of friendship," He clenched his left fist with determination, "Well, once I acquire a Deck of my own, I'll be sure to teach him a lesson he won't be forgetting for the foreseeable future!"

"That's the spirit!" smiled Sean, as he and Janice both turned away, "Now, come on, let's go and see which classes we'll be attending together."

And the three friends walked away from the cafeteria.

(elsewhere…)

At the Xadashi home on Thursday of the same week, a bunch of voices were heard coming from inside the building…

"**_HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAVID_**!"

(inside…)

Inside the kitchen, David, now 14, was seated at the head of the table. Also at the table were Futaba, Ren, Gabriella (in her highchair), Sean, and Janice.

"(皆さんに心から感謝します!) Minasan ni kokorokara kansha shimasu! (My sincerest thanks to all of you!)" smiled David, briefly speaking in Japanese before blowing out the candles on his cake.

"Now, before we cut the cake, Sean and I have a present for you, David," said Janice, taking a small present out of her backpack.

"We've pooled all the money we have saved into getting it for you," added Sean, "We hope you like it."

Curiously, David took the present and unwrapped it. The present was what looked like a small box. Upon opening it, the teenage boy gasped in shock at what was inside. Inside was a Duel Monsters Deck, and the card currently showing was a Synchro Monster Card called 'Power Tool Dragon'.

"You two…got me a starter set?" David asked, touched.

"Yup," nodded Sean, "The set we found at the hobby shop was of the 'Morphtronic' archetype, and we all know you love machines and other robotics."

"This Deck's main headliner is 'Power Tool Dragon'," explained Janice, "It's something called a Synchro Monster. A Synchro Monster is an Extra Deck feature that requires the usage of one monster and a special monster called a Tuner monster."

"Really?" asked David, looking at the card, "And…this is the 'Morphtronic' Deck."

"Happy Birthday, honey," smiled Futaba, happy that her son was continuing to grow up.

David silently looked at his new Deck fondly, before closing his eyes and hugging it to his chest.

"_Look out, Vincent-kun… For tomorrow, we duel_," he thought to himself.

(new scene…)

That Friday inside Manchester High School, David, Sean, and Janice were walking down the hallway, trying to find Vincent.

"You sure about this?" asked Janice, "It might be better to learn a few more of the rules along with facing a few other beginner players before trying to take on a big player like Vincent."

"I assure both you and Sean, I can do this," reassured David, "I will win against that cretin."

Eventually, they found Vincent at the water fountain. The spiky black-haired boy was enjoying a drink when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw that David was giving him a hard stare.

"What are you looking at?" huffed Vincent, "Are you looking for a knuckle sandwich?"

"Nothing of the sort," dismissed David, before holding up his new Deck, "Instead, I challenge you to a duel after school hours!"

Vincent grinned, "Oh? So you actually got yourself a Deck? How fantastic!" he praised, falsely, "I was waiting for fresh meat like you to show up and face me."

"I have no intention of losing to the likes of you!" insisted David.

"In that case, meet me in the cafeteria after school… and don't be late."

And Vincent walked away, looking extremely pleased and excited at the thought of demolishing poor David so easily. David, meanwhile, continued to look determined, while both Sean and Janice looked rather worried.

"Dave, are you sure you can win?" asked Janice.

"I '_know_' I can," answered David, before looking at his new Deck, "I will win against whatever Vincent-kun throws my way."

"Dave…" whispered Sean.

(elsewhere…)

In the cafeteria after school, David and Vincent were both seated at one of the tables, ready to begin their game.

"I'm all shuffled," said Vincent cockily.

"As am I," added David, having shuffled his own Deck, "Let the battle commence!"

After drawing their opening hands, the game between David and Vincent commenced…

"I'll take the first turn," offered Vincent, looking at his hand, "Just to give a newbie like you a chance, since I wouldn't be able to attack on the first turn,"

David nodded in agreement.

* * *

**Turn One**: Vincent Stevens (LP: 4000)  
**Deck**: 54  
**Current Hand (5)**: "Damage Summon", "Trap Reactor・Y FI", "Star Blast", "Spell Reactor・RE", and "Pot of Greed"

* * *

Without wasting a second, the spiky black-haired boy took and laid a card onto a Spell/Trap Zone on his mat.

"For my first card, I'll activate 'Pot of Greed'," he announced, "Read it and weep!"

The Spell Card, 'Pot of Greed', was as followed:  
-Spell Type: Normal Spell  
-Effect(s): Draw 2 cards.

"A card drawing-related card," whispered David.

"Yup; it's common in Decks, but is still very handy," confirmed Vincent, drawing two more cards from his Deck, "It lets me draw 2 more cards."

Vincent's hand now consisted of "Damage Summon", 'Trap Reactor・Y FI', 'Star Blast', 'Spell Reactor・RE', 'Nobleman of Crossout', and 'Summon Reactor・SK'. With a nasty smile on his face, Vincent looked towards David while taking a card from his hand.

"Alright, pipsqueak, watch this," While speaking, the spiky black-haired boy placed his card onto another Spell/Trap Zone on the mat, "I activate 'Star Blast'!"

The Spell Card, 'Star Blast', was as followed:  
-Spell Type: Normal Spell  
-Effect(s): Pay any number of LP in multiples of 500; reduce the Level of 1 monster you control or that is in your hand by 1 for each 500 LP you paid, until the End Phase.

The audience let out a surprised gasp.

"That lets Vincent pay any number of LP in multiples of 500 in order to reduce the Level of any one monster that he controls or that is in his hand by 1 for each set of 500 LP that was paid," One boy in the audience whispered.

"I think he might go for a strong monster on the draw as a result," Another boy whispered.

Back at the table, Vincent took out a pencil and subtracted 500 from his score, putting him at 3500 LP.

"I'll pay 500 of my LP," he was saying (LP: 4000 - 3500), "to lower the Level of the 'Summon Reactor・SK' from my hand from 5 to 4."

"_5 to 4_?" David thought to himself, growing worried, "_That allows Vincent-kun to Summon it without offering any sacrifices_."

"Now, from my hand, I'll Summon 'Summon Reactor・SK' in Attack Position!" continued Vincent, placing the card onto a Monster Field Zone on the mat. He them placed a face-down card onto a Spell/Trap Zone, "I'll also Set one card and call it a turn."

The Effect Monster Card, 'Summon Reactor・SK', was as followed:  
-Level: 5  
-Attack: 2000  
-Defense: 1400  
-Effect(s): The first time a monster(s) is Summoned to your opponent's side of the field each turn, inflict 800 damage to your opponent. During the Battle Phase of the turn this effect is activated, you can negate the attack of 1 monster your opponent controls. You can send 1 face-up 'Trap Reactor・Y FI', 1 face-up 'Spell Reactor・RE' and this face-up card you control to the GY to Special Summon 1 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE' from your hand, Deck, or GY.

David frowned, "A 2000 ATK monster on the first turn," he mused, before drawing a card from his Deck, "Now for my first move, Vincent-kun!"

* * *

**Turn Two**: David Xadashi (LP: 4000)  
**Deck**: 34  
**Current Hand (6)**: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, and "Morphtronic Celfon"

* * *

His drawn card, however, was a Monster Card called 'Morphtronic Celfon'.

"_This isn't strong enough_," David thought to himself. He them placed the card onto a Monster Field Zone, "_But I can at least use it to devise a way to defeat 'Summon Reactor'_."

The Effect Monster Card, 'Morphtronic Celfon', was as followed:  
-Level: 1  
-Attack: 100  
-Defense: 100  
-Effect(s):  
● While in Attack Position: Once per turn, you can roll a six-sided die. Reveal cards from the top of your Deck equal to the roll and Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "Morphtronic" monster from among them, ignoring its Summoning conditions. Shuffle the rest into the Deck.  
● While in Defense Position: Once per turn, you can roll a six-sided die. Look at cards from the top of your Deck equal to the roll, then return them in the same order.

"What? You're going to use THAT weakling?" scoffed Vincent, "You really ARE a noob at the game! If I were you, I would have placed that card in Defense Position," He then pointed forth, "Either way, I'll activate the first effect of 'Summon Reactor'! When a monster is, or monsters are, Summoned to the opponent's side of the field each turn, I can inflict 800 points of damage to the opponent!"

Unhappy, David took his own pencil and subtracted 800 from his score, putting him at 3200 LP. Either way, he wasn't done yet.

"I activate the Attack Position effect of 'Morphtronic Celfon'!" The aqua blue-haired boy declared, taking a dice out of his pocket, "I get to roll one die," He then rolled the dice, getting a two from it, "Seeing as I rolled a two, I get to draw the top 2 cards of my Deck."

After drawing two cards and looking at them…

"Upon the completion of this, I am required to Special Summon one Level 4 or lower 'Morphtronic' monster drawn, while ignoring any and all Summoning conditions," One of his drawn cards was a Monster Card called 'Morphtronic Boomboxen', and so placed it face-up and sideways onto a Monster Field Zone on the mat, "Since 'Morphtronic Boomboxen' was among the cards I drew, I will Special Summon it in Defense Position."

The Effect Monster, 'Morphtronic Boomboxen', was as followed:  
-Level: 4  
-Attack: 1200  
-Defense: 400  
-Effect(s):  
● While in Attack Position, this card can attack twice during each Battle Phase.  
● Once per turn, while in Defense Position, when a face-up "Morphtronic" Monster you control is targeted for an attack: You can negate the attack.

After shuffling the remaining card back into his Deck, David took and placed a face-down card onto a Spell/Trap Zone on his mat.

"Finally, I'll Set a card and bring my turn to a close," he finished.

"About time," grumbled Vincent, drawing a card, "I draw!"

* * *

**Turn Three**: Vincent Stevens (LP: 3500)  
**Deck**: 51  
**Current Hand (4)**: "Trap Reactor・Y FI", "Spell Reactor・RE", "Nobleman of Crossout", and "Delta Reactor"

* * *

His drawn card was a Monster Card called 'Delta Reactor'. Adding the card to his hand, Vincent took and placed a new card onto a second Monster Field Zone on his mat.

"I Summon 'Trap Reactor・Y FI' in Attack Mode!" The spiky black-haired boy announced.

The Effect Monster, 'Trap Reactor・Y FI', was as followed:  
-Level: 4  
-Attack: 800  
-Defense: 1800  
-Effect(s): Once per turn, when your opponent activates a Trap Card, you can destroy the Trap Card and inflict 800 damage to your opponent.

"I command two monsters stronger than your own," smirked Vincent, "And so, I think I'll battle your monsters. I'll use 'Trap Reactor' to take down 'Morphtronic Celfon' first-"

"Not so fast, Vincent-kun," interrupted David, "I have a card to save my monster," He then turned his face-down card over and revealed it to be… "'Morphtransition'! This will negate your attack and switch 'Morphtronic Celfon' into Defense Mode."

The Trap Card, 'Morphtransition', was as followed:  
-Trap Type: Normal Trap  
-Effect: Activate only when a face-up "Morphtronic" Monster you control is selected as an attack target. Negate the attack, and change the battle position of the selected "Morphtronic" Monster.

"Man, and I was expecting so much more," groaned Vincent, "Your Trap Card activates the effect of 'Trap Reactor'!"

"What?" gasped David.

"I'm afraid it's true, Dave," Sean pointed out, "Once per turn, when the opponent, that's you, activates a Trap Card, the user can destroy the Trap Card and inflict 800 damage to the opponent - again you."

"Your dweeby friend is correct," laughed Vincent, "Thanks to 'Trap Reactor', I can destroy your 'Morphtransition' and inflict 800 points of damage at once!"

Again, David, subtracted 800 from his score, putting him at 2400 LP.

"My first attack may have failed, but this second one will be harder to stop," Vincent boasted on, "I'll use 'Summon Reactor' to take out your 'Morphtronic Boomboxen'!"

"Once again, you underestimate my cards!" retorted David, "I activate the defense effect of 'Morphtronic Boomboxen'! Once per turn, when a face-up 'Morphtronic' monster I control is targeted for an attack, I can negate the attack."

"A good play," admitted Vincent sarcastically.

"Was that a compliment I heard you spout?"

"No!" The spiky black-haired boy exclaimed, who then flipped over his own face-down card, "You see, I have my own Trap Card - 'Damage Summon'!"

The Trap Card, 'Damage Summon', was as followed:  
-Trap Type: Normal Trap  
-Effect(s): Activate only when a monster you control declares an attack and the attack target is not destroyed by that attack. Pay 800 LP. Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower monster from your hand.

"Oh no!" recoiled David.

"As you can see, I can pay 800 of my LP…" explained Vincent, who then subtracted 800 from his score, "…to Special Summon one Level 4 or lower monster from my hand," He then took a card from his hand and placed it face-up on a third Monster Field Zone, "'Spell Reactor・RE' should do nicely!"

The Effect Monster Card, 'Spell Reactor・RE', was as followed:  
-Level: 3  
-Attack: 1200  
-Defense: 900  
-Effect(s): Once per turn, when your opponent activates a Spell Card, you can destroy the Spell Card and inflict 800 damage to your opponent.

"As a monster Vincent controls attacked but failed to destroy one of Dave's monsters," Janice was saying, "he was able to Special Summon a third monster."

"And this one can attack," warned Vincent, he then pointed at the 'Morphtronic Boomboxen' Monster Card, "I'll use "Spell Reactor' to destroy 'Morphtronic Boomboxen'!"

"Ngh…" David grimaced, removing the card from the mat and placing it in the discard pile.

"Now, I'll Set one more card and end my turn," finished Vincent, placing another face-down card onto a Spell/Trap Zone on his mat.

David scowled and looked at his hand, which contained 'Morphtronic Magnen', 'Gadget Hauler', 'Magical Mallet', and 'Twister'.

"Damn, I cannot beat Vincent-kun at this current state," The aqua blue-haired boy grumbled, before drawing a card, "It's my turn!"

* * *

**Turn Four**: David Xadashi (LP: 2400)  
**Deck**: 32  
**Current Hand (5)**: "Morphtronic Magnen", "Gadget Hauler", "Magical Mallet", "Twister", and "Factory of 100 Machines"

* * *

His drawn card was a Spell Card called 'Factory of 100 Machines'.

"Hold on… this could be useful," David thought to himself. He then spoke aloud… "Once more, I activate the effect of 'Morphtronic Celfon'! This time, however, it will be the Defense Position effect!"

"Defense Position effect?" repeated Vincent.

"By rolling a die," explained David, rolling the dice, "I get to check the top cards of my Deck based on the number I roll and then return them in the exact same order they were once in," He then saw that the result was three, "As I rolled a three, I check the top 3 cards of my Deck and return them to how they were before hand."

The cards were as followed:  
-'Morphtronic Datatron' (Effect Monster Card)  
-'Gadget Box' (Spell Card)  
-'Morphtronic Magnen' (Effect Monster Card)

Nodding, David placed the cards back on top of his Deck before bracing his fingers onto the sideways 'Morphtronic Celfon' Monster Card and switching it straight.

"From there, I'll switch 'Morphtronic Celfon' into Attack Mode!" continued David.

"Oh? You're going to try and fight me?" taunted Vincent.

"Next, I will activate 'Morphtronic Celfon's' Attack Position effect!" As David spoke, he rolled the dice again - landing on a one. His picked up card was the 'Morphtronic Datatron' Monster Card, "As the card I drew, 'Morphtronic Datatron', is a Level 3 monster, I can Special Summon it in Attack Mode!"

The Effect Monster Card, 'Morphtronic Datatron', was as followed:  
-Level: 3  
-Attack: 1200  
-Defense: 600  
-Effect(s):  
● While in Attack Position: Once per turn, you can Tribute 1 monster to inflict 600 damage to your opponent.  
● While in Defense Position: Once per turn, you can inflict 300 damage to your opponent.

Upon placing the mentioned card onto a Monster Field Zone on the first mat, Vincent let loose an arrogant laugh.

"You haven't learned, have you?" The spiky black-haired boy yelled out, "The effect of 'Summon Reactor' activates again; inflicting 800 points of damage!"

David went and subtracted 800 from his score, leaving him with only 1600 LP.

"Only 1600 LP left," mused Janice, "I really hope Dave knows what he's doing…"

"Alright, try to stop this!" dared David, "I activate the effect of 'Morphtronic Datatron' to sacrifice 'Morphtronic Celfon' and inflict 600 points of damage to you!"

"Whatever," muttered Vincent, subtracting 600 from his score and leaving him with 2100 LP left.

David readied another card, "Now, I shall Tribute 'Datatron' in order to Tribute Summon 'Gadget Hauler'!" Upon saying that, he removed the 'Morphtronic Datatron' Monster Card from his mat and placed a new card in its place, "My counterattack begins, now!"

The Effect Monster Card, 'Gadget Hauler', was as followed:  
-Level: 6  
-Attack: 1300  
-Defense: 0  
-Effect(s): Once per turn, you can send any number of "Morphtronic" monsters from your hand to the GY to have this card gain 800 ATK for each.

"Oh, it does, does it?" frowned Vincent, "So far, all I'm seeing are amateurish plays from a newbie like you!"

"I'm not done," insisted David, sending a card from his hand to the discard pile, "I activate the effect of 'Gadget Hauler'; sending any number of 'Morphtronic' monsters from my hand to the GY, allowing my monster to gain 800 ATK for every card sent."

"You've only sent one such monster, giving your monster only 800 more ATK,"

"You're quite the perceptive one aren't you?" The aqua blue-haired boy remarked, "'Gadget Hauler' originally had an ATK of 1300, but now has an ATK of 2100," He then took and placed another card onto the mat, "In addition, I will activate the Spell Card 'Factory of 100 Machines'!"

The Spell Card, 'Factory of 100 Machines', was as followed:  
-Spell Type: Quick-Play Spell  
-Effect(s): Banish all "Morphtronic" Monsters from your GY. Target face-up Machine-Type monster you control gains 200 ATK for each card removed, until the End Phase.

"Going to power your monster even further, eh?" scowled Vincent.

"By removing all 'Morphtronic' monsters from the GY," explained David, taking four cards and placing them outside his mat, "the ATK of any Machine monster I control increases by 200 points per 'Morphtronic'!"

"David just banished four such monsters… That will make 'Gadget Hauler's' ATK become 2900 instead of 2100!" Sean whispered to Janice.

Even though 'Gadget Hauler' was stronger, Vincent wasn't done preparing…

"I activate 'Spell Reactor's' effect!" he announced, "Once per turn, I can destroy one of your Spell Cards and inflict 800 points of damage!"

As David sent his card to the discard pile, Sean and Janice both were more worried than ever before; exactly one false move could cost their best friend the match.

"It matters not!" dismissed David, "I still control the strongest monster on the field, and I'm going to use it to launch an attack on 'Trap Reactor'!"

"Ha ha ha! I was expecting you to do that!" laughed Vincent.

"Wait, you were?" gasped David.

"Oh, big time," As the spiky black-haired boy spoke, he turned over his last Set card and revealed what it was, "I activate 'Delta Reactor'!"

The Trap Card, 'Delta Reactor, is as followed:  
-Trap Type: Normal Trap  
-Effect(s): Send 1 'Trap Reactor・Y FI', 'Spell Reactor・RE', and 'Summon Reactor・SK' you control to the GY. Special Summon 1 "Flying Fortress SKY FIRE" from your hand, Deck, or GY, ignoring its Summoning conditions.

"Oooh man, you're sooo in for it now, newbie!" howled one of Vincent's friends.

"He sure is," agreed Vincent, taking his three Monster Cards and placing them into his discard pile, "By sending one 'Trap Reactor・Y FI', 'Spell Reactor・RE', and 'Summon Reactor・SK' each I control to the GY, I can Special Summon one copy of 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE' from my hand, Deck, or GY, ignoring its Summoning conditions."

"That, loser, happens to be Vincent's ace monster!" Another of Vincent's friends warned, speaking to David.

The Effect Monster Card, 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE', was as followed:  
-Level: 8  
-Attack: 3000  
-Defense: 2500  
-Effect(s): This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except with either 'Summon Reactor・SK' or with 'Delta Reactor'. Once per turn, you can send 1 card from your hand to the GY to destroy 1 card your opponent controls. Once during each of your opponent's turns, you can activate 1 of the following effects:  
● When your opponent Normal Summons or Special Summons a monster, destroy it and inflict 800 damage to your opponent.  
● When your opponent Sets a card, destroy it and inflict 800 damage to your opponent.

"3-3000 ATK?!" spluttered David.

"I don't believe even a powered-up 'Gadget Hauler' can deal with a monster like this now, could it?" taunted Vincent.

"N-No, it can't… I end my turn,"

"And with your turn over, 'Gadget Hauler's' ATK returns to 2100!" One of Vincent's friends jeered, "Time to take out the trash, Vincent!"

* * *

**Turn Five**: Vincent Stevens (LP: 2100)  
**Deck**: 49  
**Current Hand (2)**: "Nobleman of Crossout" and ?

* * *

Upon seeing his drawn card, Vincent immediately sent it to his discard pile without much care.

"I don't need this card," shrugged Vincent, "I'll just discard it to activate 'Flying Fortress's' effect. Once per turn, I can send 1 card from my hand to the GY to destroy one of my opponent's cards - such as 'Gadget Hauler'!"

Sean cringed, "Overkill, much?" he winced.

Defeated, David sent his 'Gadget Hauler' Monster Card to the discard pile, while Vincent declared his attack…

"And now, I'll use 'Flying Fortress' to attack you directly!" he boomed, "With that, I win the duel!"

* * *

**DUEL RESULTS: Vincent Stevens wins!**

* * *

A defeated David slammed his hand onto the table, while Vincent stood up and delivered the peace sign with both hands.

"Once again, the level-up King emerges victorious!" The spiky black-haired boy bragged.

"Way to go, Vincent!" cheered one of Vincent's friends.

"You took that newbie down in record time!" Another of Vincent's friends put in.

All of a sudden, some of the other audience members thought that David's rather quick loss to Vincent was funny…

"Boy, David sucked in his first match," One boy was saying.

"Did he even read the rulebook when he got his first Deck?" A second boy added.

"Doesn't look like it," A third boy remarked.

A bunch of laughs came from the audience (including from Vincent's friends), and only Janice and Sean both didn't laugh over their fellow classmates' remarks. David, meanwhile, only felt more and more upset with himself. Unfortunately for the aqua blue-haired boy, it was about to get a whole lot worse when Vincent gazed upon him with a look full of scorn on his face.

"You should just quit," Vincent suggested spitefully, "You are too poor at this game, and will only lose and lose to anyone you try to face… You're a disgrace to Duel Monsters."

"V-Vincent-kun…" whispered David.

"Don't '_Vincent-kun_' me, idiot! Learn some new words and quit talking like that!" snapped Vincent, who then grinned at something he thought of, "Of course, you're more than welcome to challenge me again—although I'll probably end up beating you down as easily as I did today."

With that, the boastful Vincent Stevens and his group of friends left to go and celebrate his latest victory. The rest of the audience then scattered as they started to make their way home, leaving only David, Janice, and Sean behind. Unfortunately, David's confidence was in shambles from losing and enduring some stinging taunts from his fellow classmates.

"David…" whispered Janice, feeling absolutely horrible for her friend, "We're so sorry."

"Yeah, don't let Vincent get to you like that," advised Sean, "Just keep going with the practicing, and you'll get there."

"No…" sighed David sadly, "He's right. I'm nothing but a disgrace. I'm sorry, but I'm never playing this game again."

With that said, the heartbroken aqua blue-haired boy stood up and left to go home, leaving his friends to wonder if he'll ever recover from that stinging loss.

(elsewhere…)

Later that evening, inside his room back home, David was busy working on his latest robotics invention, trying to get his mind off of the duel earlier that day. Unfortunately, after that very humiliating loss to Vincent, David couldn't concentrate on his work. All he could think about was what Vincent said to him during and after their duel…

"_You should just quit. You are too poor at this game, and will only lose and lose to anyone you try to face… You're a disgrace to Duel Monsters_,"

Try as he might, David couldn't shake those stinging words. Eventually, his bottled emotions couldn't be sustained, and he lost it…

"DAMN IT!" he yelled, sweeping his arm across the desk and knocking the invention off, "I am not a disgrace to the game… I '_will_' get better, Vincent! I promise you! I will pour my heart and soul into this game and finally bring you down! I vow to learn everything I can about Duel Monsters; I'll get new and better cards to help support my Deck; and I'll practice and practice until I CAN beat you!"

**To be Continued!**

* * *

So, what do you all think of the story thus far? Once again, it isn't going to be a very long story, but it will help to serve as a build up for the near future.


	2. To Hunt a Spirit

This story was done in collaboration between me, Jriddle41 (Sodormatchmaker on DeviantART), and DaveMan1000 (both here and on DeviantART), and we own the OCs that are used in the story. Everything else belongs to their respective owners:

Thomas and Friends (c) Hit Entertainment and Mattel

The Railway Series (c) Rev Wilbert Awdry

Yu-Gi-Oh! (c) Konami

Character of David Xadashi (c) DaveMan1000

NOTE 1: This is a 3~4 chapter story focused on the character David Xadashi, who will become a main character in a later spin-off story focused on Matt Fudo and his friends.

NOTE 2: There will some Japanese writing in this story (provided by DaveMan1000), because David occasionally speaks Japanese.

NOTE 3: Once more, this story is rated K10 for mild violence and some mild language.

* * *

Opening up in the Manchester High School library, David, surrounded by countless books about Duel Monsters, was busy studying all that he could about the game.

"_As of now, I have begun my studies_," David thought to himself, "_No matter how long it takes, I will learn every detail about this game and purchase more cards until I've become strong enough to defeat Vincent-kun in a rematch_."

And thus, the aqua blue-haired boy started to read his first book.

"'**The Structure of the Perfect Deck**' by Discord J. Crawford." he began, growing very interested while reading, "This is fascinating…"

(elsewhere…)

In addition to studying the game, David had also started doing extra chores at home to earn enough money to purchase new cards for his Deck. Needless to say, it was hard work. But it was still worth it in the end.

"Here you go, honey," said Futaba, handing her son some money for washing all of the dishes.

David had earned himself £25. That, along with the money he earned mowing the lawn, gave him £80 in total.

(elsewhere…)

One Friday afternoon after school, David was visiting one of the hobby shops. While looking around the shelves and display cases, he found a stand full of packs containing 'Morphtronic' cards.

"New cards!" The aqua blue-haired boy rejoiced, before taking ten of the packs and turning to the shop owner, "I would like to purchase ten of the 'Morphtronic' card packs, please."

The shop owner nodded, "That will be £100," he offered, receiving the payment, "Thank you, young man. Enjoy your new cards,"

David, putting the card packs in his backpack, left the store for his house.

(elsewhere…)

Later inside his room at home, David, seated at his desk, opened the packs he got one-by-one. While the aqua blue-haired boy got a couple of new cards like 'Monster Reborn' (Spell Card), 'Comrade Swordsman of Landstar' (Tuner Monster Card), 'Break! Draw!' (Spell Card), and 'Metalmorph' (Trap Card), etc., most of the other cards in the packs were ones he already owned.

"Unsatisfactory at best," sighed David, massaging the side of his head in frustration, "The majority of these cards already reside in my collection. No matter, I shall not give up."

That's the spirit! And I bet that vow to never quit will reward you at some point.

* * *

**MONTAGE**

For most of the school year, David continued to work in order to earn more money for new cards at the various hobby shops around Manchester. During Christmas, when David and his family went to London to visit friends, the aqua blue-haired boy even attended a special event over at London Bridge and purchased a couple of special gold packs containing rarer cards like 'Angel Baton' (Spell Card), 'Damage Eraser' (Trap Card), 'Megamorph' (Spell Card), 'Synchro Big Tornado' (Trap Card), 'Pot of Avarice' (Spell Card), and 'Power Pickaxe' (Spell Card).

In addition to collecting newer cards to help balance his Deck, David also continued to spend time at the library studying the rules and what each card did and how to counter it (it would seem that Discord even wrote books on how to use the cards, and how to counter them). Even Sean and Janice both kindly helped their best friend, despite not being very interested in actually playing the game.

"Alright, Dave, what are the best Equip Spells to use with 'Power Tool Dragon'?" Sean asked one day.

"'Double Tool C&D', 'Gravity Blaster', 'Train Connection' and 'Air Cracking Storm'," answered David, not even looking at his book.

"You got it!" praised Janice, before looking into her own book, "Now, what does 'Metalmorph' do?"

The testing, the card buying, and the studying went on and on well into Spring. David even dueled a couple of duelists in the park. Initially, he lost most of them, but as he practiced and practiced and learned from experience, many of those losses slowly evolved into wins for him.

**END MONTAGE**

* * *

One Wednesday morning in May, David was walking down the hallway when something ahead caught his attention.

"What's with the uproar?" he wondered.

Up ahead, a large crowd of students were gathered around a table a trio of teenage girls (also students) were occupying. Attached to the front of the table was a poster that read '**Duel Monsters: Duel Until You Drop**'. It was clear that the gathered students were eager to sign up and compete, because there was a sweet prize that would be given to the winner.

"Those who wish to sign up can do so," The first girl announced.

"This tournament begins next Saturday!" The second girl added.

"It will be supersonic!" The third girl finished excitedly, before holding up a poster of a certain blue-haired boy from the Island of Sodor, "The winner of the tournament will receive a poster of Thomas Billinton - winner of the San Francisco Duel Monsters tournament!"

The mere mention of Thomas Billinton from the Island of Sodor resulted in the crowd pushing through to try and sign up for a chance to win the poster. David, meanwhile, had overheard the announcement and became thoughtful about it (not about the poster, but about dueling in an actual tournament). This could be his big chance to try and prove to the student body that he wasn't a disgrace as a duelist or a punching bag.

"_This could be it_," The aqua blue-haired boy thought to himself, "_This could be the opportunity I have been waiting for_," With that thought on hand, he rushed forth, "Wait!"

The crowd turned, and saw David running up to the table.

"I would like to sign up, please."

"Oh, you do, do you?" The voice of Vincent mocked, and the spiky black-haired boy broke through the crowd, "In that case, I, the level-up King, shall enter the tournament, too,"

"Vincent!" seethed David, before slipping into angry Japanese, "(お前!) Omae! (You!)"

"Using more of those words, are we?" sighed Vincent irritably, rolling his eyes, "Regardless, you don't scare me one bit. When we duel in this tournament, I'll take you down just as fast as I did the first time we played each other—if you even make that far."

"We know you can do that, Vincent!" One of Vincent's friends (the lean, spiky red-haired boy) encouraged, "Nobody in this whole school can defeat you!"

"That's all going to change now, Derek," insisted David, before directing his attention back to Vincent, "Mark my words Vincent-kun! I will not allow you or your uncouth friends to push me around any longer!"

"So you say," The lean, spiky red-haired boy (Derek) snorted.

"I '_know_' so!"

With that said, David and Vincent both approached the table and signed their names on the sign-up sheet, in which the first girl pulled away once the writing was finished.

"That's it! We've got everyone we need for the tournament!" she announced, "The tournament starts next Saturday out in the Football field!"

"Be there, or be square! Tee hee hee!" The third girl giggled, "And until then… Toodles!"

With that said, the trio of girls packed up and left, while the crowd scattered about in the hallway. David and Vincent, however, only gazed at each other. David looked determined, while Vincent looked smug and confident.

"See you next Saturday at the Football field?" The spiky black-haired boy pressed.

"I will be there," answered David.

"Get ready to have your butt handed to you again," Another of Vincent's friends (the long haired one) warned, "Vincent here simply cannot be beat!"

"Yeah!" agreed a third member of Vincent's gang (a bald-looking boy), "You can challenge Vincent all you want, but the results will always be the same!"

"Nicely said, Eric and Johnny," praised Vincent, always pleased to receive compliments from his group of friends.

"We're not worthy," The long-haired boy (Eric) gushed.

"You'll totally win this tournament," The bald-looking boy (Johnny) added, before looking back at David, "If you wish to get badly humiliated again by the level-up King, squirt, then we'll all be there to laugh at you…again!"

"As will I," threatened Vincent, before poking David in his chest, "Ciao, baby!"

With that said, Vincent and his group walked away for their next class. David only continued to glare until he was left alone in the hallway. When he was finally alone, David took his Deck out of his pocket to look at it long and hard.

"_I will not lose to you again, Vincent_," David thought to himself, "_This time, things will be remarkably different_."

Just then…

"**_David Xadashi_**…" A new voice echoed.

"Huh?" gasped David, looking around the hallway, "Hello? Who's there?"

"**_David Xadashi_**…" The voice called out once more.

David soon chuckled, "Admirable effort, Sean, but I know that has to be you," he figured, "You might as well cease calling out to me and reveal yourself."

But the voice didn't belong to Sean, seeing as nobody came out of hiding. Eventually, David just shrugged and decided to carry on with his day. Whether he knew it or not, that would not be the last time he would hear voices.

(elsewhere…)

That weekend, Sean and Janice both were visiting David. Inside his room, David was seated at his desk and rebuilding his Deck. The tournament was next Saturday, but he wanted to be extra prepared for it when the time finally came. Sean and Janice, meanwhile, both watched their best friend. David looked very tired, but he refused to sleep due to determination seemingly taking over his mind.

"Dave?" peeped Sean, "Do you want to go get a snack?"

No answer.

"Hey, why don't we go down to the living room and watch a movie?" suggested Janice, trying to get her friend's attention, "It looks like you need a bit of a break from preparing for the tournament."

"I cannot," refused David, looking through some of his cards, "My Deck must be impeccable for the upcoming tournament next Saturday. One of my opponents will most certainly be Vincent, and I haven't forgotten how carelessly I lost to him back in September."

"Take it easy, man," soothed Sean, "We both know how you felt from losing that duel."

"But that doesn't mean you should be focused '_entirely_' on it," added Janice wisely, "Sometimes, it's best to take a break from learning and preparing—before you make yourself sick."

David didn't pay much attention to his friends' choice of words; he only went back to looking through his cards to select which ones to include in his Deck. As he selected cards to either include or disclude, a voice spoke up…

"**_David Xadashi_**…"

"(何?) Nani? (What?)" gasped David, again speaking Japanese.

"Dave?" wondered Sean, "Dave, are you alright?"

"Did you two hear something?" asked David, looking around his room.

Janice shook her head, "No, I didn't hear anything."

"Me neither," added Sean.

"I swear, you two; I undoubtedly heard a voice calling my name," insisted David.

"I guess you must be under a ton of pressure," suggested Janice, "It's gotten to the point that you believe you're hearing voices," She then began frowning in disapproval with her friend's mental state, "That does it; you need a break from studying and building your Deck."

The blonde/pink-haired girl then stood up and started pulling David by his arm out of the room.

"H-Hey! What's the meaning of this?!" yelped David, being tugged by the arm.

"We are all going downstairs into the living room to watch a movie," answered Janice, "You really need it."

"I'm all with that," agreed Sean, following his two friends out of the room, "I know what movie we can watch, too."

"B-B-But I… I…!" David tried to protest, but his words were ignored.

Poor David.

(elsewhere…)

Later in the living room, as the three friends watched The Wizard of Oz on VHS, David couldn't stop thinking about the voice calling out to him.

"_First at school_," he thought to himself, "_and now at home… What is the matter with me? Am I truly going insane over wanting to defeat Vincent-kun_?"

Alas, there was no possible answer regarding it. It was something the aqua blue-haired boy would have to figure out for himself. If not today, tomorrow, or during the coming week, then maybe…at the tournament.

(elsewhere…)

The next Saturday at Manchester High School…

"Ladies and gentlemen!" The voice of a man echoed.

Over at the Football field, many of the seats were occupied by people who came to watch, and they were cheering and waiting for the tournament to commence.

"Hot dogs! Popcorn! Peanuts! Cotton Candy! Lemonade!" A food vendor announced, walking around the area, "Come and get your food and drink!"

Several kids and teenagers ran up to the vendor with money in hand to purchase refreshments. On a nearby stage, the High School's principal, Mr. Atkins, was standing near the edge with a microphone in his hand while addressing the crowd.

"Welcome to the '**Duel Monsters: Duel Until You Drop**' tournament!" Mr. Atkins announced, "How is everyone today?" The loud cheers seemed to answer that question, "That's wonderful! Today, we begin the tournament with a few words from our special guest - Thomas Billinton from the Island of Sodor!"

The nearby screen turned on, revealing a recorded message from Thomas Billinton - as requested by some of the staff of Manchester High School who telephoned him last month.

"Hello, this is Thomas Billinton speaking," The image of Thomas greeted, "As you all know, I've recently won the Duel Monsters tournament in San Francisco. It was hard, I'll admit, but I never gave up trying."

The duelists competing listened carefully to the speech.

"_So, that's Thomas Billinton_," David thought to himself, "_Despite only being a beginner, he's become immensely acclaimed in only a short period of time_,"

"While I don't have a whole lot to say about Duel Monsters," The image of Thomas spoke on, "there is some advice I can give…" He then held up his Deck, "That advice is to never give up, always believe in yourself, and especially believe in the Heart of the Cards. Trust in your cards, and they will trust in you. Good luck, and happy dueling!"

The screen shut off, and the whole audience resumed their cheering.

"The Heart of the Cards," whispered David, "Does such a thing like that really work for a duelist?"

"Tch! It's stupid," scoffed Vincent, "Believing in your cards? What a bunch of crap! You basically just need to power through the opponent with your strongest monsters—similar to what I do."

"Vincent, how could you say that?" questioned a girl in the duelist crowd, "Thomas-"

"Thomas this, Thomas that… Enough of that blue puffball!" snapped Vincent, "I bet he got lucky in winning that tournament, seeing as he was a beginner to the game. In fact, I bet I could beat him just as easily as I have in tournaments across Manchester!"

"Hey!" shouted David, angered over the spiky black-haired boy insulting Thomas, "Don't you dare speak in that tone and manner about Thomas-san!"

"Aww, you going to cry about it?"

Before anything more could happen…

"Enough!" boomed Mr. Atkins, causing the crowd of duelists below to hush up, "Now, allow me to show who's facing who in the first round…"

The nearby screen lit up, revealing a tournament bracket with the names of sixteen duelists competing. Names that included both David and Vincent in the list. The match-ups were as followed:  
-David vs. Alyssa  
-Miley vs. Emma  
-Jason vs. Christine  
-Colm vs. Zachary  
-Jackson vs. Evan  
-Patrick vs. Josh  
-Terry vs. Liam  
-Vincent vs. Chloe

"I'm not dueling Vincent," realized David, feeling somewhat relieved deep down.

"Heh! This will be fun," grinned Vincent. He then looked around the Football field before becoming surprised, "What? There are no tables? How are we supposed to even duel?"

He was right; there were no tables or dueling mats for the sixteen duelists to face each other.

"Furthermore, why play outside in the Football stadium?" A ginger brown-haired girl (Terry) wondered, "Wouldn't it be easier to play in the gym where there's enough room for eight tables?"

"And now, a product that Boxford Corporation from the Island of Sodor has kindly provided us for the tournament," announced Mr. Atkins, before holding up a large device, "The Duel Disk!"

"A Duel Disk?" blinked David, "I've…never even heard of a device like that before."

"Now, before anyone asks about what this does, it's best to try it out for yourself," winked Mr. Atkins.

(later…)

Before long, the duelists, standing in different spots across the Football field, were facing each other and equipped with Duel Disks. Not only that, they were also standing two or three yards away from their respective opponent as requested. And thirdly, hands were already drawn. And that was needed now was the go ahead…

"And now," announced Mr. Atkins, "let the tournament…BEGIN!"

"DUEL!" All sixteen duelists exclaimed at once (LP: 4000) x16.

The audience burst into cheers in response.

"You can do it, Dave!" called Sean.

"Use everything that you've learned!" encouraged Janice.

Over with David and Alyssa (a girl with long light brown hair all tied into a ponytail and two large fringes of hair hardly covering her left eye, and her clothing consisting of a sleeveless white top with blue trimming, a blue miniskirt, and royal blue boots)…

"Here I go!" announced Alyssa, taking the first turn.

* * *

**Turn One**: Alyssa (LP: 4000)  
**Deck**: 45  
**Current Hand (5)**: "Sleepy Beauty", "Hollow Spirit", "Mirror Prison", "Hollow Ghost", and "Pot of Greed"

* * *

Upon seeing what was in her opening hand, Alyssa took and held one of the cards out.

"As I'm sure you know what this does, I won't bother explaining its effect," she went on, "I activate the Spell Card 'Pot of Greed'!"

David watched as the brown-haired girl drew two more cards. As soon as she saw what they were, a small smile appeared on Alyssa's face.

"Now, let the dead begin their dance."

"Hmm?" quizzed David.

"From my hand," continued Alyssa, slotting a card into a Spell/Trap slot on her Duel Disk, "I'll activate another Spell Card!"

To everyone in the area's surprise (duelist or audience member), a hologram of a face-up Spell Card called 'Circle of Life' appeared on Alyssa's side of the field.

"A hologram of a card?" wondered David, "Nothing I've designed and created was ever as advanced as this."

All of a sudden, the face-up 'Circle of Life' Spell Card took effect and caused a large circle to appear all-around the field, trapping both duelists inside.

"_I'll admit Boxford Corp did a good job in making something like this_," Alyssa thought to herself, liking what she was seeing. Before long, she took another card from her hand and discarded it, "'Circle of Life' works like this; once per turn, the turn player can discard 1 Spell Card. If the turn player doesn't do this, then they can't activate Spell Cards this turn. I've discarded a Spell from my hand, so I can activate more Spell Cards."

On cue, a Spell Card called 'Mirror Prison' briefly appeared face-up on the field before sinking into the ground.

"What was that?" asked David.

"The card I've discarded is a Spell called 'Mirror Prison'," answered Alyssa, "So long as it remains in my GY, any monster you own that isn't a Machine-Type or Zombie-Type monster can't declare an attack unless you Tribute another monster of the same Type."

"(何?!) Nani?! Another monster of the same Type?" gasped David, becoming dismayed, "(くそー…) Kuso ̄… (Damn…)"

"Unfortunately, I'm not through with showing you my ghostly lockdown combo just yet," Alyssa went on, just as a Spell Card called 'Circle of Terror' materialized face-up on the field, "I activate 'Circle of Terror'! Now, once per turn, the turn player can discard 1 Monster Card. If the turn player doesn't do this, then they can't Summon any monsters this turn."

A second magical circle appeared on the field and surrounded the first circle.

"That's going to cause Dave some major problems," realized Sean.

"Dave…" whispered Janice.

Back over with Alyssa, she was checking her hand over. It contained 'Sleepy Beauty', 'Hollow Spirit', and 'Hollow Ghost'. Before long, the brown-haired girl took one of the cards ('Sleepy Beauty') and sent it to the GY.

"I'll discard 1 Monster Card from my hand to allow myself to Summon monsters this turn," said Alyssa, just as a Monster Card called 'Sleepy Beauty' briefly appeared face-up on the field before sinking into the ground, "The monster, 'Sleepy Beauty', so long as it stays in my GY, lowers the Level of all Zombie monsters in my hand by 1."

"This means I could expect to engage a strong monster immediately," realized David, "Alyssa-san has planned so far ahead…" He then watched as a Monster Card called 'Hollow Spirit' materialized face-up on the field, "I was correct!"

"With this monster's Level lowered from 5 to 4," declared Alyssa, with two fingers braced onto a Monster Field slot on her Duel Disk, "I'll Summon 'Hollow Spirit' in Attack Mode!"

Appearing onto the field was a small creature that resembled an elf with greenish skin (Level: 5-4/ATK: 1200/DEF: 1000).

"I activate the effect of 'Hollow Spirit'!" Alyssa went on, "As I have a Zombie-Type monster in my GY, I can, once per turn, inflict 800 points of damage to the opponent!"

'Hollow Spirit' charged an energy ball, and launched it at David, causing him to cry out (LP: 4000 - 3200). With the audience…

"Dave!" Sean and Janice both called out, worried.

Back in the duel field…

"I end my turn," finished Alyssa.

David recovered from the attack, "That… that actually inflicted pain," he mumbled, "I didn't think Boxford Corp could develop such high-level devices… No matter, I believe I can win," The aqua blue-haired boy drew a card, "It's my turn!"

* * *

**Turn Two**: David Xadashi (LP: 3200)  
**Deck**: 54  
**Current Hand (6)**: "Morphtronic Datatron", "Factory of 100 Machines", "Morphtronic Videon", "Morphtronic Cord", "Morphtronic Bind", and "Morphtronic Scopen"

* * *

His drawn card was a Monster Card called 'Morphtronic Scopen'.

"Just remember; by the effect of 'Circle of Terror', you can't Summon any monsters unless you discard a Monster Card from your hand," reminded Alyssa.

"I understand," acknowledged David, before taking and sending a card from his hand to the GY, "I will discard 'Morphtronic Datatron' to bypass the effect of your Spell Card," He then took and placed another card onto a Monster Field slot on his Duel Disk, "Come, Tuner monster - 'Morphtronic Scopen'!"

Appearing onto the field was a large Microscope. After a few seconds, it came apart, revealing it to be a robotic creature (Level: 3/ATK: 800/DEF: 1400)

"A Tuner?" blinked Alyssa.

"And now," continued David, "I activate the Attack Position effect of my monster!" He took another card from his hand, "Once per turn, I can Special Summon 1 Level 4 'Morphtronic' monster from my hand, but it will be destroyed during the End Phase."

"A Level 4 monster?" Alyssa repeated, before she recoiled, "It can't be!"

On cue, a Monster Card called 'Morphtronic Videon' materialized face-up on the field.

"I Special Summon 'Morphtronic Videon'!" announced David.

Appearing onto the field was a video camera, which also turned into a robot (Level: 4/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000).

"And now, it's time to demonstrate one of my most recently learned techniques!" David went on, clenching his fist, "I'm Tuning my Level 4 Effect Monster, 'Morphtronic Videon', with the Level 3 Tuner monster, 'Morphtronic Scopen'!"

As expected, 'Morphtronic Scopen' turned into three Synchro Rings, which 'Morphtronic Videon' dove into, causing it to turn into four orbs of light while the symbols 4 plus 3 equals 7 appeared briefly.

"**_Docking strength with courage to protect the Earth's peace_**!" chanted David. Soon, a new monster began to emerge from the forming beam of light within the trio of Synchro Rings, "**_Synchro Summon! Envoy of love and justice - 'Power Tool Dragon'_**!"

Appearing from the beam of light and flying through the sky, was what looked like a yellow, robotic dragon; one of its arms was a chisel, and the other arm was a blue scoop bucket. The new monster let loose a roar to signal its arrival to the crowd (Level: 7/ATK: 2300/DEF: 2500). Nearby in his duel with Chloe, Vincent oversaw the whole thing while becoming very surprised over it.

"What?!" he cried out, "The dweeb managed to Synchro Summon a good monster?!"

Over in the audience…

"That guy actually has a somewhat promising card in his Deck?!" demanded Eric, not looking very thrilled.

"I guess all that practice and studying is paying off," admired Sean.

"I'll say!" agreed Janice.

Back in the duel field…

"A breathtaking sight! My ace monster, 'Power Tool Dragon', has finally arrived!" announced David, "And now, I'll activate its effect!"

"Effect?" blinked Alyssa.

The Deck in David's Duel Disk suddenly shuffled about and left a loose card at the very top, which he drew and readied briefly.

"Indeed, effect," The aqua blue-haired boy confirmed, adding the drawn card to his hand, "Once per turn, during the Main Phase, it allows me to add 1 random Equip Spell Card from my Deck into my hand."

Looking over his current hand, it contained 'Factory of 100 Machines', 'Morphtronic Cord', 'Morphtronic Bind', and the newly added 'Break! Draw!'.

"_This is magnificent_," David thought to himself, before taking a card from his hand, "Now, since the effect of 'Circle of Life' requires me to send a Spell Card from my hand to the GY in order to activate other such cards… I'll do just that."

He sent the 'Morphtronic Cord' Spell Card to the GY, before taking and slotting another card into his Duel Disk.

"I'll discard 'Morphtronic Cord' to bypass 'Circle of Life's' effect," As David spoke on, the 'Break! Draw!' Spell Card flipped face-up and revealed itself, "And then, I shall equip 'Power Tool Dragon' with 'Break! Draw!'! Now, when 'Power Tool Dragon' attacks and destroys a monster by battle, I can draw 1 card. But if the effect is used three times, my Equip Spell is destroyed."

"Your monster is ALSO a Machine!" panicked Alyssa, "That means it can bypass the effect of the 'Mirror Prison' in my GY!"

"Affirmative!" acknowledged David, before entering the Battle Phase, "Go forth, 'Power Tool Dragon'! **CRAFTY BREAK**!"

'Power Tool Dragon' obeyed, charging forward and smashing its bucket hand into 'Hollow Spirit'. The undead monster sunk into the ground as a result of the battle, causing Alyssa to grimace a bit while sustaining some major damage (LP: 4000 - 2900).

"And don't forget about 'Break! Draw!'!" reminded David, drawing a card, "As I've destroyed a monster by battle, I can draw a card."

He saw that his card was a Trap Card called 'Morphtronic Impact Return'. Alyssa, however, wasn't through just yet…

"By destroying 'Hollow Spirit', you've invoked its wrath!" she declared.

"Wrath?" repeated David. All of a sudden, he saw something begin to rise from the ground, "W-What's-?"

"As I've said, you've invoked the wrath of the spirits," answered Alyssa, "'Hollow Spirit' allows me to Special Summon 'Hollow Ghost' in its place!"

'Hollow Ghost', once it finished rising from the ground, was a blue colored, female spirit with waving hair (Level: 7/ATK: 2600/DEF: 0).

"As of now," The brown-haired girl went on, "I've brought out something much stronger than 'Power Tool Dragon'!"

David gulped, "Not good…" he mumbled, before taking and slotting the remaining card from his hand into his Duel Disk, "I'll Set a reverse card and end my turn."

A face-down card ('Morphtronic Impact Return') materialized on the field.

"It's back to me," smirked Alyssa, drawing a card, "Draw!"

* * *

**Turn Three**: Alyssa (LP: 2900)  
**Deck**: 42  
**Current Hand (2)**: ? and "Skull Servant"

* * *

Her drawn card was a Monster Card called 'Skull Servant'. Almost immediately, the brown-haired girl entered the Battle Phase…

"I use 'Hollow Ghost' to attack 'Power Tool Dragon'!" she announced.

'Hollow Ghost' obeyed, soaring towards 'Power Tool Dragon'.

"Your 'Power Tool Dragon' is about to fall!" declared Alyssa

"I wouldn't be so sure about that!" retorted David, "I activate 'Power Tool Dragon's' second effect!"

"What?!" gasped Alyssa.

As 'Hollow Ghost' prepared to strike the monster it was battling, the face-up 'Break! Draw!' Spell Card suddenly sank into the ground, causing 'Power Tool Dragon' to block the enemy's attack.

"'Power Tool Dragon's' other monster effect; if it were to be destroyed by an enemy monster's attack," explained David, "I can send any Equip Spell it's currently equipped with to the GY to prevent my monster's destruction."

Alyssa scowled, "But, you'll still take the damage!" she reminded.

'Hollow Ghost' managed to break free from the block and strike 'Power Tool Dragon' in the face, pushing the monster back and causing David to lose some LP (LP: 3200 - 2900).

"And besides, that isn't even all the damage you will receive," continued Alyssa.

"What do you mean?" asked David.

"'Hollow Ghost's primary monster effect activates! Each time a card is spent to the GY, the opponent, that's you, will sustain 600 points of damage!"

'Hollow Ghost' let loose a ghostly wail, causing the sound waves to be unleashed and strike David (LP: 2900 - 2300).

"Now, again, from the effect of 'Circle of Life', I must send 1 Spell Card from my hand to the GY…" As Alyssa spoke, she discarded a card from her hand, "…to allow myself to activate a Spell Card," The brown-haired girl smirked once more, "However, there's also the matter of 'Hollow Ghost' since I've sent another card to the GY…"

As expected, 'Hollow Ghost' let out another loud wail, causing David to get hit by the sound waves and get sent flying across the field until he hit the ground (LP: 2300 - 1700).

"Unfortunately, I've something that's even better!" continued Alyssa, sending yet another card from her hand to the GY, "'Circle of Terror's' effect!"

As another card was sent to the GY, 'Hollow Ghost' unleashed a third screech towards David. Before long, the aqua blue-haired boy was hit, just as he was trying to stand back up from being thrown about by the second attack.

"Dave will be down to 1100 LP!" wailed Janice.

"Meaning if he eats a strong enough blow from Alyssa if she decides to attack at some point, he'll be eliminated from the tournament!" added Sean.

Back in the duel field, David once again got hit by the sonic waves and sent flying back. Upon hitting the ground, he sustained more effect damage (LP: 1700 - 1100).

"I end my turn!" finished Alyssa.

Meanwhile, over where Vincent was dueling Chloe (a girl with long purple hair with a pink bow, and her clothing consisting of a uniform from a boarding school). Vincent commanded 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE', while Chloe's field was completely empty. As a hologram, 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE' happened to be a massive, greenish gray-painted plane with two mechanical arms.

"'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE', direct attack!" commanded Vincent, pointing forth, "**DEATH AIR RAID**!"

'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE' obeyed, flying into the sky and deploying many explosives over Chloe, striking her field and causing an explosion to cloud the whole side.

"**You're the wooooorst**!" The purple-haired girl wailed in defeat (LP: 1900 - 0).

* * *

**DUEL RESULTS: Vincent Stevens wins!**

* * *

The holograms faded away, as a triumphant Vincent flashed the peace sign with both hands towards the cheering crowd.

"And the level-up King wins again!" he declared proudly, "For round two, I wonder who will be next to face me and get beaten?"

"You go, Vincent!" hollered Johnny.

Back over in David's field, the aqua blue-haired boy struggled to get back to his feet.

"How undignified," David mumbled to himself, "I'm on the brink of losing in my first tournament duel… I can't let that happen!" He then drew a card, "There must be a card that can help me turn the tide in my favor…"

* * *

**Turn Four**: David Xadashi (LP: 1100)  
**Deck**: 52  
**Current Hand (1)**: "Morphtronic Datatron"

* * *

His drawn card was the "Morphtronic Datatron" Monster Card.

"This card won't be of help," David said to himself, before going into his personal thoughts, "Unless I can conceive a plan before my turn comes to an end, there's a good chance that Alyssa-san will be victorious on her next turn," He then cast an eye to his Set card ('Morphtronic Impact Return'), "The card I have Set is 'Morphtronic Impact Return', which will help me return both 'Circle of Life' and 'Circle of Terror' to Alyssa-san's hand, but it won't be nearly enough."

In the audience, both Janice and Sean were keeping silent in order to not distract their friend from trying to come up with a strategy. Back in the duel field, David was looking at the Deck in his Duel Disk, suddenly remembering one of the cards that came with his initial starter Deck.

"_There's one Spell Card in my Deck that will help me take down 'Hollow Ghost' and win the duel_," David thought to himself, as an image of his Deck being shuffled and leaving a loose card at the top was shown, "_but I'm required to use 'Power Tool Dragon's' effect to attempt to get it—and the card chosen is at random, meaning I may end up receiving another Equip Spell instead. At this point though, what other choice do I have_?" Suddenly, he remembered something, "W-Wait a moment!"

A flashback ensued.

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

The monitor was showing Flashback Thomas giving his speech…

"That advice is to never give up, always believe in yourself, and especially believe in the Heart of the Cards," he was saying, "Trust in your cards, and they will trust in you,"

**END FLASHBACK**

* * *

The flashback came to an end.

"'_Trust in your cards, and they will trust in you_'," repeated David mentally, "_Those are some highly encouraging words from a champion_…"

"Hey!" called Alyssa, interrupting her opponent's thoughts, "Come on, David! It's your turn!"

"I'll admit that the advice does sound somewhat clichéd, but for you, Thomas-san, I will at least give it a try," thought David. At long last, he poked a button on his Duel Disk and made his move… "Face-down card, activate!"

On cue, the Set card flipped face-up and revealed itself to be…

"'Morphtronic Impact Return'! This card allows me to select up to 2 Spell or Trap Cards my opponent controls. When selected, the 2 Spell or Trap Cards return to their hand, while I must return 1 'Morphtronic' Monster Card from my hand into the Deck."

"W-What?!" cringed Alyssa, knowing exactly which cards her opponent was going to choose.

"That's right!" confirmed David, before pointing at his opponent, "Alyssa-san, the cards I choose…are both 'Circle of Life' and 'Circle of Terror'!"

The two mentioned, face-up Spell Cards faded away from the field and reappeared in Alyssa's hand, while David shuffle his only card back into his Deck.

"Have you already forgotten about 'Hollow Ghost's' effect?" demanded Alyssa, pointing forth, "Whenever a card is sent to the GY, you will take 600 points of damage!"

Once again, David was hit by a sound wave-like wail from 'Hollow Ghost', causing him to cry out as his LP dropped dangerously low (LP: 1100 - 500). Some of the audience, mainly both Sean and Janice, were worried that the aqua blue-haired boy was going to lose if one false move was made by him. Back in the duel field, David shrugged off the pain enough to resume talking to his opponent…

"I activate the effect of 'Power Tool Dragon' again!" he announced, as his Deck shuffled itself and left a loose card at the top, "Once per turn, during the Main Phase, it lets me add a random Equip Spell Card from my Deck into my hand," The aqua blue-haired carefully looked at his Deck once more, "This is it… I need to draw that one card… If I don't, then the duel will likely be over for me. Please heed my prayers, my cards… Please trust in me…"

With that said, David braced two fingers on his Deck and drew the top card, performing a Destiny Draw in the process.

"_Please let this be the card I need… Please_!" David thought to himself fearfully, before slowly opening his eyes and seeing the card. Upon seeing what was drawn, he…rejoiced over it, "_Here it…is_!"

"Huh?" quizzed Alyssa.

"My prayers were answered!" exclaimed David, "I believed in my cards, and they followed through!"

"What?" wondered Alyssa. In her thoughts, "Absurd! Surely David didn't try to rely on some silly-sounding advice from Thomas—did he?"

"Here I come!" declared David, full of renewed bravery and vigor. He slotted his drawn card into a Spell/Trap slot on his Duel Disk, "I equip 'Power Tool Dragon' with 'Power Pickaxe'!"

As the mentioned Spell Card materialized face-up on the field. From there, a pickaxe of sorts replaced 'Power Tool Dragon's' chisel arm.

"'Power Pickaxe'?" repeated Alyssa.

"The effect 'Power Pickaxe'!" began David, "Once per turn, I can select and remove from play 1 monster in my opponent's GY whose Level is less than or equal to the equipped monster's. In addition, if the equipped monster battles during the same turn that this effect was used, it gains ATK equal to half of the removed monster's ATK, during the Damage Step only."

"N-No way!" realized Alyssa

"'_Yes_' way!" David grinned, before dropping a small bombshell, "Not only that, I also happen to know of a small weakness that your 'Hollow Ghost' has!"

The spirit of 'Hollow Spirit' briefly reappeared on the field, which 'Power Tool Dragon' took notice of.

"Your 'Hollow Ghost' has great strength by default, but only if 'Hollow Spirit' is in your GY," explained David, "However, what if 'Hollow Spirit' were to be '_removed_' from the GY?"

'Power Tool Dragon' raised its pickaxe-like arm and slashed down upon 'Hollow Spirit', hitting the ghost and causing it to fade away into oblivion.

"The answer is simple," David went on, "The ATK of 'Hollow Ghost' would instead become…0!"

"0?!" recoiled Alyssa.

Sad, but true… With 'Hollow Spirit' gone from the GY, 'Hollow Ghost's' ATK was practically nothing by this stage (ATK: 2600 - 0).

"BATTLE!" declared David, entering the Battle Phase, "Prepare yourself, Alyssa-san… 'Power Tool Dragon' will attack 'Hollow Ghost'!"

'Power Tool Dragon' lunged forth.

"**CRAFTY BREAK**!"

'Power Tool Dragon' roared and slashed its pickaxe at 'Hollow Ghost', striking and causing the ghost-like monster to explode and cloud Alyssa's side of the field.

"**Oh nooooooo**…" The brown-haired girl, bracing herself, screamed (LP: 2900 - 0).

* * *

**DUEL RESULTS: David Xadashi wins!**

* * *

With the duel done, the remaining holograms faded away, while David fell to his hands and knees in utter disbelief (but not in an upset way).

"I… I did it…" he panted, trying to catch his breath, "I…actually won my first major duel…"

Over in the audience…

"Way to go, Dave!" whooped Sean, "You've advanced to round two!"

"He had me worried there for a moment," added Janice happily, "But, in the end, Dave knew what he was doing and managed to pull a big win."

David turned around and, whilst smiling, flashed a thumbs up towards his friends, letting them know that he was fine and pleased to have won and advanced to the next round. Despite initial skepticism (especially since the first duel between David and Vincent was still fresh in many of the student's minds), some members of the audience actually started cheering for David. Nearby, Vincent was watching David waving to the crowd that was cheering for him, and he simply snorted in dismissal.

"Feh! That was merely beginner's luck," The spiky black-haired boy grumbled, "I'm gonna crush him soon enough… If not in the next two rounds, then definitely in the finals!"

With round one coming to a close and round two on the horizon, David will have to work all the harder if he wants to make it all the way to the final round of the tournament and prove himself to everyone in his school.

**To be Continued!**


	3. The Mysterious Mark, Part 1

This story was done in collaboration between me, Jriddle41 (Sodormatchmaker on DeviantART), and DaveMan1000 (both here and on DeviantART), and we own the OCs that are used in the story. Everything else belongs to their respective owners:

Thomas and Friends (c) Hit Entertainment and Mattel

The Railway Series (c) Rev Wilbert Awdry

Yu-Gi-Oh! (c) Konami

Character of David Xadashi (c) DaveMan1000

NOTE 1: This is a 3~4 chapter story focused on the character David Xadashi, who will become a main character in a later spin-off story focused on Matt Fudo and his friends.

NOTE 2: There will some Japanese writing in this story (provided by DaveMan1000), because David occasionally speaks Japanese.

NOTE 3: Once more, this story is rated K10 for mild violence and some mild language.

* * *

Round one had quickly passed, and David and Vincent both advanced to round two. Once again, they weren't destined to face each other just yet. Instead they got other opponents:  
-David vs. Colm  
-Evan vs. Jackson  
-Vincent vs. Patrick  
-Jason vs. Terry

Currently, David (LP: 1900) controlled 'Gadget Hauler' (Level: 6/ATK: 1300/DEF: 0) and a face-down card. Colm (an older boy with short blonde hair)(LP: 1000), meanwhile, controlled a monster called 'Zoa' (Level: 7/ATK: 2600/DEF: 1900).

"I activate the effect of 'Gadget Hauler'!" announced David, sending a Monster Card called 'Morphtronic Slingen' from his hand to the GY, "Once per turn, I can send any number of 'Morphtronic' monsters from my hand to the GY to have this card gain 800 ATK for each."

As one such monster was put into the GY, 'Gadget Hauler' grew stronger (ATK: 1300 - 2100).

"BATTLE!" David went on, entering the Battle Phase, "'Gadget Hauler, strike down 'Zoa'!"

'Gadget Hauler' obeyed, opening its cargo hold and releasing a cannon.

"But 'Zoa's' ATK still exceeds that of 'Gadget Hauler'!" protested Colm.

"I'm not done preparing," interrupted David, as his Set card flipped face-up and revealed itself, "I activate a Trap - 'Metalmorph'!"

"'Metalmorph'?!"

"'Metalmorph' increases the ATK and DEF of one monster on the field by 300 points," The aqua blue-haired boy explained, as a metal coating covered 'Gadget Hauler's' body and causing it to grow stronger (ATK: 2100 - 2400/DEF: 0 - 300), "However, the secondary effect of my card is what I'm aiming for."

"Secondary effect?" repeated Colm, not liking what he was hearing.

The secondary effect of the 'Metalmorph' Trap Card activated, causing 'Gadget Hauler' to grow even more powerful (ATK: 2400 - 3700). Now 'Gadget Hauler' was even stronger than the 'Zoa' controlled by Colm.

"If the targeted monster attacks," continued David, "it obtains ATK equal to half the ATK of the target, during damage calculation only,"

"Aww crap!" cried Colm.

"Go forth, 'Gadget Hauler'!" commanded David, resuming his attack, "**GADGETING CANNON**!"

'Gadget Hauler' charged and fired a powerful electrical blast from its cannon. 'Zoa' was hit by the blast and exploded, clouding Colm's side of the field as the blonde-haired boy cried out in defeat (LP: 1000 - 0).

* * *

**DUEL RESULTS: David Xadashi wins!**

* * *

Over with Vincent's duel with Patrick (a younger boy, but still teenaged, with short red hair)… Both players' fields were empty of cards, but it was currently Vincent's turn.

"From my hand, I'll activate the Spell Card 'Tremendous Fire'!" The spiky black-haired boy announced, as the mentioned Spell Card materialized face-up on the field, "I can inflict 1000 points of damage to my opponent, and then I take 500 points of damage."

"N-No way!" panicked Patrick (LP: 600)

"You'd better believe it!" grinned Vincent (LP: 600), "Now, go and burn in Hell!"

A massive fire erupted around the field. Vincent merely grimaced (LP: 600 - 100), but poor Patrick cried out as the fire burned all around him (LP: 600 - 0).

* * *

**DUEL RESULTS: Vincent Stevens wins!**

* * *

"I'm victorious!" cheered David, having beaten Colm.

"That was too easy!" bragged Vincent, having crushed Patrick, "I want a better challenger for the next duel!"

The audience resumed cheering as the second round continued for everyone else.

(later…)

Eventually, the second round came to an end, and four more duelists were eliminated. So far, the only four duelists left were as followed:  
-David  
-Vincent  
-Terry  
-Jackson

"Great job out there, Dave," praised Sean, ruffling his aqua blue-haired friend's hair.

"Keep this up, and you just might win it all!" added Janice.

Over with Vincent and his friends…

"You totally rock, Vincent!" Johnny swooned over his spiky black-haired friend.

"Go and kick some more butt, dude!" put in Eric.

On the stage, Mr. Atkins addressed the audience…

"The semi-finals will begin shortly!" he announced, before turning to the nearby monitor, "The pairings are as followed…"

This is what they were:  
-David vs. Terry  
-Vincent vs. Jackson

"Still I will not face Vincent just yet," mused David.

"Maybe you won't have to face him?" suggested Sean, "If he loses to Jackson, then he'll be out of the tournament."

"Vincent losing to Jackson?" groaned Janice, rolling her eyes, "Chances of that happening are as high as any of us winning the lottery - slim to none."

"Destiny yearns me and Vincent to duel in the concluding battle of the tournament," figured David, "I can feel it in my gut."

"Some destiny," mused Sean.

With that said, David walked away from his friends to go and face Terry in the semi-finals. Nearby, Vincent had already begun his duel against Jackson. While the latter had taken the first turn and managed to get three monsters ('Lord of Dragons', 'Hyozanyru', and 'Luster Dragon #2') out, the latter was next to go…

"Alright, take this!" The spiky black-haired boy called out, drawing a card, "Draw!"

* * *

**Turn Two**: Vincent Stevens (LP: 4000)  
**Deck**: 54  
**Current Hand (6)**: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, and ?

* * *

"I activate the Spell Card 'Raigeki'!" declared Vincent, as the mentioned Spell Card materialized face-up on the field, "All monsters on your field are destroyed!"

"But 'Lord of Dragons's' effect prevents Dragon monsters from being targeted by effects!" objected Patrick.

"Idiot! That's from being '_targeted_'!" insulted Vincent, irritably correcting his opponent, "'Raigeki' doesn't target! You know what that means? It means my Spell Card will still wipe out your whole field of monsters!"

A bolt of lightning rained from the sky and struck 'Lord of Dragons', 'Hyozanyru', and 'Luster Dragon #2', destroying the three of them in an explosion and causing Patrick to grimace and brace himself from the force of the attack.

"Now your field is empty!" continued Vincent, before taking and slotting another card into his Duel Disk, "Next, from my hand, I'll activate 'Reactor Construction'(!)!"

The mentioned Spell Card flipped face-up and revealed itself.

"I'll pay 1000 LP…" The spiky black-haired boy explained (LP: 4000 - 3000), "…to Special Summon each of the following monsters from my hand, Deck, or GY…"

On cue, 'Summon Reactor・SK' appeared on the field (Level: 5/ATK: 2000/DEF: 1400), which was followed by 'Trap Reactor・Y FI' also appearing on the field (Level: 4/ATK: 800/DEF: 1800), and 'Spell Reactor・RE' appearing on the field (Level: 3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 900).

"W-Wait! You've chosen…them?!" wailed Patrick.

"I don't even need to use 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE' to take you down!" boomed Vincent, before entering the Battle Phase, "All three of my monsters will instead attack you directly for the game!"

Poor Patrick…

(elsewhere…)

Before long, the semi-finals was over. For Vincent, he won against Patrick on his first turn alone. As for his duel with Terry, it was difficult for David in some places, but he managed to scrape up a win by using 'Power Tool Dragon' and equipping it with the 'Double Tool C&D' Spell Card. Because the semi-finals have ended, David and Vincent were both on the big stage, with Mr. Atkins addressing the audience.

"The semi-finals have ended!" he was saying, "To those who competed and made it rather far, great job."

The audience and eliminated duelists started cheering and clapping.

"But these two have made it to the finals because they've proven to be the best of the best!" continued Mr. Atkins, motioning towards David and Vincent, "Starting in half an hour, David Xadashi and Vincent Stevens will duel for the tournament crown!"

"Don't forget the poster of Thomas Billinton," reminded the school secretary, Mrs. Davis.

"Oh… right. That, too,"

David and Vincent both looked at each other.

"It appears as though we shall have out long overdue rematch after all," said David.

"It sure does," agreed Vincent, before holding his hand out, "May the best man win."

As soon as David reached his right hand over to shake his opponent's own hand, Vincent started crushing the hand deliberately while causing the aqua blue-haired boy to cry out in pain.

"Oops!" gasped Vincent falsely, retracting his hand, "My bad. Guess I was a bit too rough. But, seriously, let's have a good battle in half an hour."

From there, Vincent turned and walked off-stage to join his friends. Glaring, knowing that Vincent crushed his hand on purpose, David turned and walked off the other end of the stage. Below the stage, Janice and Sean were both waiting for their friend.

"David, are you okay?" asked Janice, worried.

"Vincent crushed my hand deliberately!" fumed David, looking in the direction Vincent was walking away in, "I'll show him once we duel!"

"Before it begins, let's get something to eat," suggested Sean, "You must be hungry after dueling three times in a row."

David calmed down, "I'll admit I am a bit fanished," he agreed, managing to smile a little bit, "There's a burger bistro one block away from the school; we can acquire sustenance there."

"Good call," nodded Janice, "I'll treat us to it."

"That's nice of you to offer, Janice, but I can do that," offered Sean.

Janice smiled, "Aww, you're so sweet, Sean," she gushed, "Come along."

With that said, the trio of friends proceeded to grab a bite to eat. While walking away from the school, David again started to hear voices…

"_**David Xadashi**_…"

"Huh?" David gasped, before bringing his left hand to his forehead, "Not again… Why am I hearing these voices in my head?"

"David?" called Sean, "You coming?"

David shook his head, trying to clear it clear of voices; he needed to keep his head clear and focused on the upcoming match with Vincent.

(elsewhere…)

Back in the Football field of Manchester High School, David and Vincent were facing each other once more, this time in the center of the whole field. Since half an hour had passed, the final duel of the tournament was about to begin, and the audience was more than fired up for it.

"At last! We've come to the final battle!" announced Mr. Atkins, before showing off a large poster of Thomas, "David Xadashi will duel with Vincent Stevens for the poster of Thomas Billinton!"

The audience cheered once more. Over with David and Vincent…

"Well now… Are you ready to be humiliated again by my superior Deck's power?" taunted Vincent, activating his Duel Disk.

"(あなたはカウンターの価値さえありません。) Anata wa kauntā no kachi sae arimasen. (You're not even worth a counter.)" retorted David calmly in Japanese, activating his own Duel Disk in response.

And so… the final battle commenced…

"DUEL!" David and Vincent both declared at once (LP: 4000) x2.

As a result of the announcement, the audience burst into another loud chorus of cheers.

"Come on, David!" called Sean, "You can do it!"

"Slaughter that dork, Vincent!" hollered Derek.

Back in the duel field…

"It's my turn!" declared David, taking the first turn.

* * *

**Turn One**: David Xadashi (LP: 4000)  
**Deck**: 54  
**Current Hand (5)**: "Power Break", "Morphtronic Vacuumen", "Morphtronic Bind", "Morphtronic Celfon", and "Morphtronic Slingen"

* * *

Taking a card from his hand, the aqua blue-haired boy placed it onto his Duel Disk.

"From my hand, I'll Summon 'Morphtronic Celfon' in Attack Mode!"

Appearing onto the field was what looked like a large yellow cellphone. Suddenly, the cellphone started transforming into a humanoid robot (Level: 1/ATK: 100/DEF: 100). Before long, a large dice materialized in the air above the center of the field.

"Now, I'll activate the Attack Position effect of 'Morphtronic Celfon'!" continued David, "Once per turn, I can roll a six-sided die. Based on the number I roll, I must reveal cards from the top of my Deck and Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower 'Morphtronic' monster from among them, ignoring its Summoning conditions. After that, I must shuffle the rest of the cards back into my Deck."

The large dice dropped to the ground, rolling about until it landed on a…

"It's a three!" rejoiced David, drawing the top three cards of his Deck and looking them over, "Now, I must Special Summon a Level 4 or lower 'Morphtronic' monster from among these cards."

The three cards were 'Armored Back' (Trap Card), 'Gadget Arms' (Effect Monster Card), and 'Morphtronic Scopen' (Tuner Monster Card). One of the cards was what David was hoping to have picked up.

"I've drawn the Tuner monster - 'Morphtronic Scopen'!" he declared, shuffling the two former cards back into his Deck and placing the third one onto a Monster Field slot on his Duel Disk, "While the other cards get shuffled back into my Deck, this one is Special Summoned!"

Appearing onto the field was the robotic microscope-like monster (Level: 3/ATK: 800/DEF: 1400).

"I should have guessed," grumbled Vincent, "Thanks to that monster's effect, you can Special Summon a Level 4 'Morphtronic' monster from your hand."

"Once per turn, that is," corrected David, taking a card from his hand, "Of course, it will be destroyed at the End Phase, but it's going to be used for a Synchro Summon before it happens!" He placed the card onto his Duel Disk, "I Special Summon 'Morphtronic Slingen' in Attack Mode!"

Appearing onto the field was what looked like a purple (both light and dark) robot with a large slingshot attached to its back (Level: 4/ATK: 1200/DEF: 800). With the monsters he needed, David took advantage of the situation…

"And now," The aqua blue-haired boy went on, "I'm Tuning my Level 4 Effect Monster, 'Morphtronic Slingen', with the Level 3 Tuner monster, 'Morphtronic Scopen'!"

As expected, 'Morphtronic Scopen' turned into three Synchro Rings, which 'Morphtronic Slingen' dove into, causing it to turn into four orbs of light while the symbols 4 plus 3 equals 7 appeared briefly.

"**_Docking strength with courage to protect the Earth's peace_**!" chanted David. Soon, a new monster began to emerge from the forming beam of light within the trio of Synchro Rings, "**_Synchro Summon! Envoy of love and justice - 'Power Tool Dragon'_**!"

Appearing from the beam of light and onto the field, was the mechanical dragon-like monster (Level: 7/ATK: 2300/DEF: 2500). The audience seemed to break into loud cheers when they saw David Synchro Summon his ace monster on the first turn.

"Tch! For me to face 'Power Tool Dragon' on the first turn…" Vincent grimaced, not looking very amused.

"Do I sense a slimmer of amazement, Vincent-kun?" grinned David, "I've come in incredible distance since the start of the school year! This time, I shall emerge as the victor!" His Deck then shuffled by itself, leaving a loose card at the top, "'Power Tool Dragon's' effect lets me add 1 random Equip Spell from my Deck into my hand."

He drew the card, which was revealed to be a Spell Card called 'Central Shield'. The sight caused David to smile, and the smile caused Vincent to scowl.

"Great… What did you draw?" he demanded.

"Only one of THE best defensive Equip Spells I have!" answered David, before holding his card out, "I equip 'Power Tool Dragon' with 'Central Shield'!"

A large red, magnetic-like shield appeared on the field, protecting 'Power Tool Dragon'.

"Now, if any other monster besides 'Power Tool Dragon' is attacked, I will take no battle damage," explained David, "Also, 'Central Shield' forbids you from attacking me directly."

"Grrr!" growled Vincent, watching as two face-down cards materialized on the field.

"Finally, I'll Set two cards and end my turn," David finished, "Alright Vincent, it's your turn to shine!"

"You must have gotten lucky so far!" assumed Vincent, drawing a card, "Well, that luck won't help you all the way!"

* * *

**Turn Two**: Vincent Stevens (LP: 4000)  
**Deck**: 54  
**Current Hand (6)**: "Hidden Soldiers", "Spell Reactor・RE", "Trap Reactor・Y FI", "Delta Reactor", "Summon Reactor・SK", and "Fake Explosion"

* * *

His drawn card was a Trap Card called 'Fake Explosion', while the rest of his hand contained 'Hidden Soldiers', 'Spell Reactor・RE', 'Trap Reactor・Y FI', 'Delta Reactor', and 'Summon Reactor・SK'. All of a sudden…

"Hold fast, Vincent!" called David.

"What do you want?" demanded Vincent.

"I have a Trap Card I wish to activate," David answered, just as one of his two Set cards flipped face-up and revealed itself, "I activate a Continuous Trap - 'Morphtronic Bind'! So long as this card remains face-up, and I control at least one 'Morphtronic' monster, all Level 4 or higher monsters you control can't attack or change their battle positions."

Vincent seethed, "You…!" He took and placed a card onto his Duel Disk, "Come forth - 'Spell Reactor・RE'!"

Appearing onto the field was a small, floating mechanical dragon-like creature with two mech-like arms (Level: 3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 900).

"My monster's weaker than 'Power Tool Dragon', but I'm going on the offensive anyway!" boomed Vincent, entering the Battle Phase, "'Spell Reactor・RE', do us a favor and send 'Morphtronic Celfon' to the scrap heap!"

'Spell Reactor・RE' obeyed, firing explosives at the large robotic cellphone. An explosion rocked the other side of the field, which resulted in the destruction of 'Morphtronic Celfon'.

"Thanks to the effect of 'Central Shield'," reminded David (LP: 4000), "I take no battle damage because you attacked a monster other than 'Power Tool Dragon'!"

"Dammit! I know that!" snapped Vincent, before slotting three cards into his Duel Disk, "I Set three cards and end my turn!"

Three face-down cards materialized on the field.

"Damn that kid!" scowled Johnny, "How dare he make a mockery of Vincent!"

"Hey! Vincent! Don't give up! You can clobber that guy like you did before!" called Eric.

Back in the duel field…

"Here I come, Vincent!" declared David, drawing a card, "Draw!"

* * *

**Turn Three**: David Xadashi (LP: 4000)  
**Deck**: 51  
**Current Hand (1)**: "Morphtronic Staplen"

* * *

"One more! I'll activate 'Power Tool Dragon's' monster effect!"

David's Deck shuffled itself and left a loose card at the top, which he drew. The aqua blue-haired boy saw his card was the 'Megamorph' Spell Card. Adding the card to his hand, David placed his drawn card onto a Monster Field slot on his Duel Disk.

"I Summon 'Morphtronic Staplen'!" he announced.

Appearing onto the field was a large stapler, which transformed into a robot (Level: 4/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1000).

"Thanks to the Attack Position effect of this monster," explained David, "you can't target another monster I control as an attack target."

"So what?" dismissed Vincent, just as one of his three Set cards flipped face-up and revealed itself, "I activate a Trap - 'Hidden Soldiers'! Seeing as you've Normal Summoned a monster, I can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower DARK monster from my hand."

"A Level 4 or lower DARK monster," worried David.

Vincent took a card from his hand, looked at it, and smirked nastily.

"Oh, I think this card will do nicely for a start," he remarked.

"(何?) Nani? (What?)" David cringed, speaking Japanese.

With that said, Vincent placed his chosen card onto his Duel Disk, causing the familiar 'Trap Reactor・Y FI' Monster Card to materialize face-up on the field.

"Come forth - 'Trap Reactor・Y FI'!" commanded Vincent.

Appearing onto the field was a humanoid, colored green, plane-shaped robot (Level: 4/ATK: 800/DEF: 1800).

"You're going for the Summon of 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE'!" realized David, "You just need 'Summon Reactor' to achieve it! Well, know that I won't allow you to bring out the bane of my previous loss!"

"If you think you can stop my strategy," teased Vincent, "then try your luck at it!"

"Go forth, 'Power Tool Dragon'!" declared David, entering the Battle Phase, "Attack 'Spell Reactor・RE' with Crafty Break!"

'Power Tool Dragon' obeyed, charging forth.

"Your strategy is terminated, Vincent!" exclaimed David.

"I'm not stupid, you know!" insulted Vincent, causing his opponent to ease up, "And now, I'll activate a Trap - 'Fake Explosion'!"

The second face-down card flipped up and revealed itself.

"This card can only be activated when you, the opponent, declare an attack with a monster," explained Vincent, "My monsters are unable to be destroyed by battle!"

'Power Tool Dragon' struck 'Spell Reactor・RE' in the chest with the chisel arm, causing Vincent to cry out as he took battle damage from the attack (LP: 4000 - 2900). After a few seconds of panting…

"The second effect of 'Fake Explosion… After damage calculation, it lets me Special Summon the second-to-last piece of the puzzle from my hand," continued Vincent, taking a card and placing it onto his Duel Disk, "And you should know it quite well - 'Summon Reactor・SK'!"

Appearing onto the field was a humanoid, army green painted plane with two arms and two should cannons; it looked ready to fight (Level: 5/ATK: 2000/DEF: 1400).

"Damn!" cried David.

"That's right. The bane of your existence is about to show itself once more," grinned Vincent. He then poked a button on his Duel Disk, "And with 'Summon Reactor' finally present, the final piece of the puzzle can now be played!"

The spiky black-haired boy's final Set card flipped face-up and revealed itself. This was bad… Really bad!

"'Delta Reactor', activate!" announced Vincent.

'Trap Reactor・Y FI', 'Spell Reactor・RE', and 'Summon Reactor・SK' each rose into the sky one-by-one. David, knowing what he was about to go up against, could only look upward in shock as a bright light covered most of the sky.

"Come before us - 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE'!" commanded Vincent.

Descending from the light towards the field, was the combined form of the three reactors. Again, 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE' was a massive, greenish gray-painted plane with two mechanical arms. (Level: 8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500). The sight of their friend's ace monster brought joy to Eric, Johnny, and Derek.

"Hey, loser! That's the monster that completely destroyed you the first time!" called Johnny.

"You sure you can beat it this time?" taunted Eric, "Maybe you should just give up!"

Back over with David. It was clear he was not going to back down from his tormentors…

"_No… I refuse to back down_!" David thought to himself, "_This time, I'm going to win_," At last, he spoke aloud, "I end my turn, Vincent!"

"Oh? You wish to continue?" teased Vincent, clearly amused, "You're either very brave or very stupid."

"Do not deride me!" warned David, "You have yet to witness what else my Deck is capable of!"

"What could that be?" hollered Derek from the audience, "Make you lose all the faster?!"

David tried his best to ignore the taunting, "Pay him no heed," The aqua blue-haired boy muttered to only himself, "He's only goading you so that you would make a wrong move," With that said, he pointed at Vincent, "Alright, Vincent, take your turn!"

"It's my turn!" declared Vincent, drawing a card, "Draw!"

* * *

**Turn Four**: Vincent Stevens (LP: 2900)  
**Deck**: 52  
**Current Hand (1)**: "Pot of Greed"

* * *

His drawn card was the 'Pot of Greed' Spell Card.

"Oh, I'm just loving my draws!" The spiky black-haired boy grinned, before looking towards his opponent, "You WISH you had my amazing drawing ability, don't you?"

"Sorry, but I'd rather not have it," deadpanned David, "You never know where it's been."

"Oh, ha! Make all the jokes you want," frowned Vincent, which quickly returned to being a nasty smile, "However, I currently hold all the cards here!" He turned his drawn card over and revealed what it was, "I activate the Spell Card 'Pot of Greed'!"

With that said, he drew two more cards.

"As we all know, it lets me draw 2 cards," As Vincent spoke, he took a look at his two cards, "Now, did I-?"

The drawn cards were 'Mystical Space Typhoon' (Spell Card) and 'Darksea Float' (Effect Monster Card).

"I did!" The spiky black-haired boy boasted, "Hey, Dave! I'm about to cripple your strategy of protecting yourself!"

"You are?" quizzed David.

"Yup!" With that said, Vincent send one of the cards ('Darksea Float') to the GY, "First, I'll deal with your Trap Card… By sending a card from my hand to the GY, the effect of 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE' can destroy 1 card on your side of the field!"

'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE' took to the skies.

"Destroy 'Morphtronic Bind'!" commanded Vincent, "**SHARP SHOOTING**!"

As expected; as 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE' flew above David, it dropped explosives down upon the face-up 'Morphtronic Bind' Trap Card, striking and causing an explosion to cloud the aqua blue-haired boy's side of the field. When the smoke faded away, David's Trap Card was gone.

"There goes one of your best cards!" laughed Vincent, drawing a card, "And as I've sent 'Darksea Float' to the GY, I can draw an extra card,"

David cursed in response. Unfortunately, his problems were far from finished…

"Next, I'll dispose of your little shield with ''Mystical Space Typhoon'!" continued Vincent, holding his last card out, "This destroys one Spell or Trap Card on the field!"

The 'Mystical Space Typhoon' Spell Card flipped face-up and revealed itself, just as a hurricane suddenly erupted from the card. Soon enough, the hurricane reached the face-up 'Central Shield' Spell Card, causing the card to get blown away before shattering into shards of glass. Over in the audience…

"David's now in danger of taking damage!" panicked Sean.

"Great moves, Vincent!" Eric, Johnny, and Derek each whooped at once.

Back in the duel field…

"And now, it's time for battle!" announced Vincent, entering the Battle Phase, "'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE', fly into the sky and deliver death upon 'Morphtronic Staplen'!"

'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE' flew into the sky as commanded, soon flying above poor David's field.

"**DEATH AIR RAID**!" Vincent shouted powerfully.

And the bombs were deployed. As they struck the ground, the explosive weapons did as they were made to do - explode. As the bombs exploded on contact with the ground, 'Morphtronic Staplen' let loose a roar of pain before exploding from destruction. David cried out as he braced himself from the impact (LP: 4000 - 2400).

"David!" called Janice.

"Hang in there!" added Sean.

Vincent laughed, "Do you see now?!" he bragged, "I'll admit you have gotten somewhat better since we last dueled, but you're still leagues behind me in terms of skill and Deck power!"

"W-What's your point?!" demanded David.

"You should just give it up, loser!" ordered Johnny, "You're no match for Vincent, and you know it!"

"Yeah!" added Derek, "You can challenge him all you want, but he will always defeat your scrap heap of a Deck!"

"Of course, you can surrender the duel!" suggested Eric, "I'm sure nobody here will blame you for it—although we'll still laugh at you if it makes you feel any better!"

All of a sudden, many staples were shot out from the pile of scrap left behind, striking and weakening 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE' slightly (ATK: 3000 - 2700).

"The effect of 'Morphtronic Staplen' - as it was destroyed while in Attack Mode," explained David, "the monster that did the deed has its ATK reduced by 300 points!"

"Heh! I knew that," insisted Vincent, "The reason I knew it, is because you're predictable!"

"He sure is!" agreed Derek, "Someone as predictable as that doesn't deserve to have anyone to support him or her in a duel or real life!"

Over with both Janice and Sean…

"Don't listen to them, Dave!" called Sean, "We're behind you all the way!"

"Those jerks don't know what they're talking about!" put in Janice.

Back in the duel field, Vincent merely snorted as he slotted a card into his Duel Disk.

"Some people just don't know when to butt out," The spiky black-haired boy huffed hypocritically, just as a face-down card materialized on the field, "I'll Set one card face-down and end my turn."

David scowled, "Damn…" The aqua blue-haired boy mumbled to himself, "I can't let him and his friends taunt me into giving up," He drew a card, "It's my turn!"

* * *

**Turn Five**: David Xadashi (LP: 4000)  
**Deck**: 50  
**Current Hand (3)**: "Morphtronic Vacuumen", "Megamorph", and "Power-Up Adapter"

* * *

His drawn card was a Trap Card called 'Power-Up Adapter'.

"_I'll try to use this at a subsequent time_," David thought to himself, "Alright, Vincent! I'm going to power 'Power Tool Dragon' to far greater levels!"

"How?" scoffed Vincent.

"With this!" As David spoke, the 'Megamorph' Spell Card materialized face-up on the field behind 'Power Tool Dragon', "From my hand, I'll activate the Equip Spell 'Megamorph'!"

'Power Tool Dragon', while roaring, suddenly started growing in size.

"What?!" gasped Vincent.

"As your LP are greater than mine," David explained, as 'Power Tool Dragon' suddenly got supercharged with power (ATK: 2300 - 4600), "'Megamorph' doubles the ATK of my monster. But, if '_my_' LP were to be made higher than yours, its ATK would be cut in half instead."

"Nice try!" huffed Vincent, "But by playing a card, you've fallen into a trap of my own!"

"A trap?" repeated David.

"Of course, it's not a Set card I'm going to activate. Rather, it's a monster effect," As Vincent spoke, 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE' started to fly into the sky again, "I activate the effect of 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE'! As you've activated or Set a card, or Summoned a monster, I can destroy the card in-question and inflict 800 points of damage once during your turn."

"No!" cried David, realizing he was about to lose one of his best weapons.

"**DEATH DROP**!" ordered Vincent.

Bombs dropped from the plane-like monster. As expected, the explosions left behind hit and destroyed the face-up 'Megamorph' Spell Card, causing 'Power Tool Dragon' to return to its normal size along with its original ATK (ATK: 4600 - 2300). Not only that, but some of the bombs even hit David (LP: 2400 - 1600).

"That's the way, Vincent!" jeered Eric.

On cue, some of the audience (not all mind you, and this included Sean, Janice, and Mr. Atkins) started booing David for his poor performance at this stage of the duel. Vincent, meanwhile, took advantage of the booing to further taunt his opponent…

"Do you hear that, David Xadashi?" he asked cruelly, "Those are the sounds of the student body! They hate your performance as a duelist, and prefer me, the level-up King, as the better duelist!"

Slowly, David rose to his feet, looking to see many of the students actually booing him.

"Now, finish your turn so I can win!" dared Vincent.

"I…Summon 'Morphtronic Vacuumen' in Defense Mode!" David struggled to say, placing his card onto a Monster Field slot on his Duel Disk.

Appearing onto the field was a vacuum cleaner (Level: 1/ATK: 0/DEF: 0).

"The Defense Position effect; it lets me equip 1 face-up Attack Position monster you control to this card."

"What?!" gasped Vincent.

The vacuum's hose turned to full power and began to suck up 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE'. Before long, control of the plane-like monster went over to David (although it was really under the control of 'Morphtronic Vacuumen').

"Not only that," continued David, as his face-down card flipped up and revealed itself, "I'll also activate 'Power Break'! As I control 'Power Tool Dragon', every single Equip Spell on the field and in the GYs are returned to their respective owners' Decks!"

"That includes monsters equipped to other monsters!" realized Johnny.

Glowing a brownish gold-like color, 'Power Tool Dragon' let loose a roar, causing a very small number of cards (two) from David's GY to emerge, fly around him, and return to his Deck. 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE', meanwhile, suddenly turned into a card and floated back towards Vincent, slipping into his Deck.

"Not only that, but for each card returned to the Deck," David went on, pointing forth, "you will take 500 points of damage - 1500 points, that is!"

"1500?!" Vincent cried out, before he started glowing all red and yelling in pain (LP: 2900 - 1400).

"And now, your field is empty!" continued David, entering the Battle Phase, "'Power Tool Dragon', attack Vincent directly!"

'Power Tool Dragon' obeyed, charging at Vincent, ready to finish the bully off.

"This game is over!" rejoiced David.

"Fat chance, you dork!" retorted Vincent.

"What?"

"Haven't you learned by now that I'm the level-up King?!" The spiky black-haired boy went on, "I can never lose to anybody, and I'm certainly not going to lose to a nobody like you!" With that said, he poked a button on his Duel Disk, "Face-down card, open! Continuous Trap - 'Chariot Pile', activate!"

The face-down card flipped up and revealed itself.

"'Chariot Pile'! This card has several powerful effects that can only be used once during my turn!" exclaimed Vincent, "For example, I can inflict 800 points of damage to you, but you can easily negate that effect by Tributing 1 monster you control," His smile grew nastier and nastier, "However, if you attack me directly, I can pay 800 LP to negate the attack and destroy the attacking monster."

David cringed, "Negate the attack and destroy the attacking monster?!"

"You're catching on real quick!" laughed Vincent, taking a LP hit (LP: 1400 - 600), "Now, since you're attacking me directly, I'll pay 800 LP to negate your attack…"

A barrier of sorts shielded Vincent from the attack, just before releasing a blue blast in retaliation.

"…and destroy 'Power Tool Dragon'!"

The blue blast struck and destroyed 'Power Tool Dragon' in a massive explosion.

"'Power Tool Dragon'!" called David, who then looked at his hand in dismay, "Ngh…"

"That's too bad," mocked Vincent, "You've lost your best monster; now you'll be even easier to beat!"

David was just about to retort, when…

"_**David Xadashi**_…" The mysterious voice echoed, "_**David Xadashi**_…"

"That voice again?" wondered David loudly.

"Huh? What are you babbling on about?" questioned Vincent.

"I heard a voice calling out to me!" insisted David, "I've been hearing voices for a while now."

"You, hearing voices?" dismissed Vincent, "It sounds to me like you're going insane because you know, deep down, you'll never become a great duelist like myself!"

"I '_know_' I'm hearing a voice calling out to me!" yelled David, before slotting a card into his Duel Disk, "And I know it's telling me to not quit against the likes of you!"

A face-down card materialized on the field.

"I Set a card face-down and end my turn."

"Perfect!" smirked Vincent, "I was waiting for you to end your turn… Now I can show you and everyone else here a monster that's better than 'Power Tool Dragon' and even better than 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE'!"

"A monster that's better than even 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE'?" repeated Janice.

"Is there such a monster?" pondered Eric.

"I'll show you all what it is!" offered Vincent, drawing a card, "Draw!"

* * *

**Turn Six**: Vincent Stevens (LP: 600)  
**Deck**: 49  
**Current Hand (1)**: "Black Salvo"

* * *

His drawn card was a Monster Card called 'Black Salvo'.

"Here's where we begin!" declared Vincent, placing his card onto a Monster Field slot on his Duel Disk, "I Summon the Tuner monster 'Black Salvo'!"

"T-Tuner monster?" stuttered David.

Appearing onto the field was what looked like a floating bomb with an evil-looking face on the front (Level: 3/ATK: 100/DEF: 1100). All of a sudden, a card ejected from Vincent's GY.

"'Black Salvo's' effect!" The spiky black-haird boy continued, "When this card is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon 1 Level 4 DARK Machine-Type monster from my GY in face-up Defense Mode with its effect(s) negated."

Within seconds, 'Trap Reactor・Y FI' returned to the field in a defensive stance (Level: 4/ATK: 800/DEF: 1800).

"Did you honestly believe that you were the only one in this school who could Synchro Summon?" teased Vincent, "Please! I can do the same thing!" He then gave the command, "I'm Tuning my Level 4 Effect Monster, 'Trap Reactor・Y FI', with the Level 3 Tuner monster, 'Black Salvo'!"

'Black Salvo' exploded into three Synchro Rings, which 'Trap Reactor・Y FI' floated into while turning into four orbs of light as the symbols 4 plus 3 equals 7 were shown. In addition, Vincent began a Summon Chant of his own…

"**_Those who are in the military, destroy those who try to take you down_**!" The spike black-haired boy chanted, just before his eyes flashed all red for a brief moment, "**_Synchro Summon_**!"

As the Synchro Summon sequence started to come to an end, a new monster started to emerge from the resulting beam of light.

"**'**_**Dark Strike Fighter**_**'**!"

Landing on the ground was a new machine monster that looked like a lesser version of 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE' with its armor more of a darker shade of red and black (Level: 7/ATK: 2600/DEF: 1800).

"'Dark Strike Fighter'?" gasped Derek.

"Our man, Vincent, has a monster that's even more dangerous than 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE'?" put in Johnny.

The audience (again, not everyone there) seemed to admire the Synchro Summon that Vincent pulled off, which he, again, used to put down poor David…

"Listen to those cheers, man!" Vincent was saying, flashing doubt peace signs to his adoring crowd, "They love '_me_', and they don't love '_you_'! They love me because '_I_' am the Level-Up King! They don't love '_you_' because you're a born loser; you always have been a loser and always will be a loser!"

With that being said, 'Dark Strike Fighter' started charging its cannons.

"Now, take this! 'Dark Strike Fighter', take down 'Morphtronic Vacuumen'!"

'Dark Strike Fighter' obeyed, firing explosives at 'Morphtronic Vacuumen'.

"The first effect of my Trap Card, 'Chariot Pile', activates!" declared Vincent, "Once per turn, during the Main Phase, I can inflict 800 points of damage to my opponent!"

The powerful explosives struck the weaker monster and caused yet another explosion to cloud David's side of the field. This resulted in David being sent flying back whilst screaming; eventually landing roughly on the ground until he laid still as his LP dropped low (LP: 1600 - 800).

"DAVE!" Sean and Janice both cried out.

Once again, much of the audience started booing at David for his poor performance in the duel, while Erick, Derek, and Johnny each took to laughing at how stupid the aqua blue-haired boy looked at the moment. Over with David…

"I… I won't l-lose…" he mumbled, while weakly sitting up. Soon enough… "What-?"

Poor David saw that more and more people were booing, jeering, and laughing at him than ever before. And it wasn't helping that a certain spiky-haired teenage boy was behaving more unsportsman-like than ever before.

"You're going to lose, David!" bragged Vincent, "You can never beat a really talented duelist like myself!"

With his whole field in shambles from Vincent's superior cards and many people in the audience booing and/or laughing him, David's self esteem was completely shot down at this stage. He was beginning to feel like all his hard work was all for nothing. David looked at his Deck, and lifted his hand up. It looked as though he really was about to place his palm on his Deck and surrender the duel.

"_I can't win_," David thought to himself, "_All of my studying and training, while it got me far, simply wasn't enough. I simply can't compete with people like Vincent… I-I should just…surrender_."

Before his hand could touch the top of the Duel Disk…

"_**David Xadashi**_…" echoed the same mysterious voice, "_**Don't give up… You are a chosen one**_…"

"That voice…" whispered David. He was finally at his breaking point with whomever was calling out to him… "Voice! Where the hell are you hiding?! Who even are you?! I have a right to know! Show yourself, right this moment!"

Over with the audience…

"Who's he talking to?" One boy in the audience wondered.

"He must be talking to himself because he's going crazy," Another boy figured.

"More like he's about to cry due to the fact he's going to lose on Vincent's next turn," jeered Derek.

"Ha! What a crybaby!" laughed Johnny, "15-year olds shouldn't be crying just because they're about to lose!" He then started chanting in a very mean way… "**_Crybaby! Crybaby! Crybaby! Crybaby_**!"

The audience resumed laughing and booing poor David. Despite Sean and Janice's efforts to get them to stop, they were clearly failing. In the middle of the duel field, David, on his hands and knees after seeing so many people booing and laughing at him while having absolutely no idea who the mysterious voice belong to, felt extreme pain coming to his head.

"Please… please stop…" he begged painfully, clutching the sides of his head with both hands while fighting the urge to breakdown into tears, "Just tell me…who you are?"

The pain only continued to build, while the scornful laughter, jeering, and booing from the audience continued to become worse. What nobody noticed, however, was that David's whole body was beginning to glow all white. At last, the final straw for the aqua blue-haired boy was broken…

"**AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH**!" David, finally gazing skyward, screamed in a mixture of both pain and sadness.

All of a sudden, a remarkable thing happened… The light around David's body seemed to explode, causing the laughter, jeering, and booing from the audience to completely stop and result in them covering their eyes from the brightness.

"D-Dave!" winced Janice, covering her eyes.

"W-What the heck is this?!" wailed Eric, also covering his eyes from the bright light.

Soon, the light was beginning to dim in the center of the field. When it died down, David was still on his hands and knees whilst panting hard from the loud screaming he let loose.

"W-What happened to me?" he stammered, before feeling something react on his right forearm, "Huh? What is this feeling on my arm?"

Rolling his shirt's sleeve up, David, to his shock, discovered something unusual on his forearm - it was a glowing mark of a dragon's heart. David was so shocked by the discovery of the marking that he couldn't seem to speak. This raised a question; what was that marking? Who was that voice, and why was it calling out to him? Why did David's body begin glowing? Those questions, and so much more, would be answered very soon…

**To be Continued!**


	4. The Mysterious Mark, Part 2

This story was done in collaboration between me, Jriddle41 (Sodormatchmaker on DeviantART), and DaveMan1000 (both here and on DeviantART), and we own the OCs that are used in the story. Everything else belongs to their respective owners:

Thomas and Friends (c) Hit Entertainment and Mattel

The Railway Series (c) Rev Wilbert Awdry

Yu-Gi-Oh! (c) Konami

Character of David Xadashi (c) DaveMan1000

Nintendo DS (c) Nintendo

NOTE 1: This is a 3~4 chapter story focused on the character David Xadashi, who will become a main character in a later spin-off story focused on Matt Fudo and his friends.

NOTE 2: There will some Japanese writing in this story (provided by DaveMan1000), because David occasionally speaks Japanese.

NOTE 3: Once more, this story is rated K10 for mild violence and some mild language.

* * *

Opening up outside a large, fancy-looking Summer home outside the city center of Knapford City, all was very quiet. Currently, Discord, Matt, Michael, Carlie, James R., and Zack were all visiting the Island of Sodor for a little while, since Discord himself was currently assisting Boxford Corporation with a couple of things. Not only that, Matt, Michael, Carlie, James R., and Zack all also had recently helped their new friends in stopping Diesel 10 from taking over Sodor High School. It was tough going, since Thomas was forced to duel Diesel 10 when it was revealed he (Diesel 10) had secretly organized the kidnapping of Annie and Clarabel (who were Thomas's younger twin sisters). Not only that, a fire had broken out at some point, but the firefighters lead by both Flynn and Belle managed to put it out and the villain was ultimately defeated and sent back to prison for his crimes.

(elsewhere…)

Inside his room, James R. was lying on the bed whilst playing a Japanese role-playing game on his Nintendo DS system.

"Ha ha! Take that!" The brown-haired boy cheered, enjoying himself, "Man, I love this game!"

All of a sudden, he felt a glow on his right forearm. With his attention no longer focused on his video game, James R. shut the Nintendo DS off, placed it on the table, and took a look at the glowing marking on his forearm (which was shaped like a dragon's tail).

"Huh? Why's my mark-?" James R. wondered, growing curious, "Hmm… Maybe I'd better go find the others and let them know."

With that said, he got off the bed and left the room. What James R. didn't know was that he wasn't the only one who's marking was reacting just now…

(elsewhere…)

Inside the gym of the Summer home, Michael, decked out in a tank top, sweatpants, and sneakers, was busy lifting weights by himself. As he worked out, the lime green-haired boy soon felt the marking (shaped like wings) on his right forearm beginning to glow, causing him to carefully place the weight back in its place, sit up, and take notice of the glow.

"What now?" Michael asked himself, grabbing a nearby towel.

(elsewhere…)

Outside the Summer house, Carlie was busy tending to a small garden she and James R. prepared not long ago.

"Drink up," The brown-haired girl soothed, using a watering can to water the flowers, "A healthy combination of water and sunlight will help you all grow, you know,"

Once she was finished watering the plants, Carlie felt something glowing under her gloved right arm. Curiously, she took the glove off and saw that her own marking (shaped like a dragon's foot) was glowing.

"My mark is reacting?" wondered Carlie, becoming a bit worried as she looked at her right forearm, "What's going on?"

(elsewhere…)

Inside the nearby garage, Matt was busy working on his Duel Runner, Fudo Go. Despite always being in tip top, the machine could always use a quick tuning. Whilst working, Matt, like the rest of his friends/siblings had experienced at the same time, felt something under the sleeve of his coat glowing. Noticing the glow, Matt put down the wrench and rolled up the sleeve, exposing the glowing mark (shaped like a dragon's head) on the right forearm.

"What in the world?" he quizzed.

Yup, this was quite the mystery…

(elsewhere…)

"So, you guys felt it, too?" asked Zack.

Inside Zack's room, Matt, Michael, Carlie, and James R. were all visiting their fellow friend and Signer.

"You got that right, mate," agreed Michael, "While working out, my marking started reacting over something."

"Same here, except I was playing a video game," added James R..

"Me too," agreed Carlie, "Only I was watering the garden."

"I'm taking it you've sensed the presence of one of the two remaining dragons still yet to be found?" asked Matt, speaking to Zack.

"I have, Matt," nodded Zack, "I feel as though this specific dragon was calling out to us."

"Do you think this unknown fifth or sixth Signer could be located somewhere on the Island of Sodor?" pondered Carlie.

"I…can't actually tell for sure."

"If one of the chosen ones is not on Sodor, then surely he or she must be located somewhere in the United Kingdom," figured James R., folding his arms, "The question though, is where exactly?"

Nothing more was said as a result. Why? Because the gang felt their respective markings beginning glowing once more.

(elsewhere…)

Meanwhile, David, still on his hands and knees, found himself in an unknown dimension of some sorts.

"(どこ?) Doko? (Where?)" The aqua blue-haired boy wondered in Japanese, looking around his new surroundings, "What kind of place is-?"

"_**David Xadashi**_…" The mysterious voice echoed, "_**What is your goal**_?"

"My what?" peeped David, "Is that you again, voice?"

"_**What is your goal**_?" The voice repeated, "_**Chosen one, what is your goal**_?"

"Chosen one? What are you implying? I'm the chosen one of what?"

"_**Please calm yourself, child**_," The mysterious voice soothed in response, "_**Just answer my question; what is your goal**_?"

David calmed down a bit, "My goal is… My goal is to become a great duelist," he answered, "But, there's more to it than that!"

"_**More to it**_?" The voice pondered.

"I… I want to also protect the people I care about!" continued David, "I cannot elaborate why, but it's a feeling I've carried deep down in my heart for a considerable amount of time!"

"_**Then, it would seem you have a long mission to undertake**_," The mysterious voice pointed out, "_**A mission that requires you…to make new friends**_."

"Make new friends?" repeated David, "But what of the friends I currently have? Why do I need to make new friends for?"

Rather than receive a proper answer to the question, David instead saw the whole dimension-like area starting glowing a bright white light, causing the aqua blue-haired boy to cry out and shield his eyes from the show. When the light dimmed, David took a look at what was ahead.

"What?!" he gasped, surprised greatly.

Flying within the dimension's sky and leering down at the aqua blue-haired boy (although it was in a non-hostile way), were five different dragons:  
-A white/silvery, majestic-looking dragon  
-A red/black, demonic-looking dragon with curvy-looking horns on the head  
-A reddish dragon whose body seemed to resemble rose petals  
-A black dragon which seemed to possess many bird-like traits  
-A long blue serpent-like dragon with an aqua-colored mane and fairy-like wings and armor on the torso

"You five are…dragons?!" questioned David, briefly taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes.

"David Xadashi, you have been chosen," The first dragon (Stardust Dragon) said.

"Chosen by the Crimson Dragon to wield the power as a fellow Signer," The second dragon (Red Dragon Archfiend) added.

"However, there's something you must do first," warned the third dragon (Black Rose Dragon).

"In order to use your newfound power, you must learn to accept it," put in the fourth dragon (Black-Winged Dragon).

"Accept the power?" quizzed David, "More importantly, a Signer? What in the world is a Signer?"

"To truly accept the power, you must allow yourself to gain a marking," explained the fifth dragon (Ancient Fairy Dragon), not answering the question about what a Signer is, "Do you accept it?"

"This is ludicrous," David muttered to himself, "This all can't be real… Maybe I '_am_' going crazy like everyone is claiming me to become!"

"I can tell you're expressing some doubts?" Ancient Fairy Dragon pressed, sensing some seeds of doubt within the teenage boy.

"Look, it's…not that I'm experiencing doubts or anything," corrected David, "It's just I… I haven't the slightest idea what to believe. I mean, I wanted to become a duelist as to prevent myself from getting bullied, and a part of me also wishes to safeguard those I care about, like my friends and family."

"In spite of your hardships, your heart is certainly in the right place," soothed Black Rose Dragon, "One day, you will discover your true intentions."

"My… my true intentions? You're referring to…protecting my friends and loved ones?"

"That and so much more," The rose-like dragon went on, "You are the only one…who can protect '_her_'."

As Black Rose Dragon spoke on, the silhouette of a teenage girl about David's age was then shown. As David squinted his eyes to get a better look at who it was, the silhouette brightened to reveal the girl possessing long pink hair split into two ponytails. On her right forearm was a mysterious, glowing marking shaped like a dragon's hand.

"Huh? W-Who is she?" wondered David, "I've never met her before," When none of the five dragons responded, the aqua blue-haired boy got frustrated, "Hey! Who is that girl?! Why are you saying I'm the only one who can protect her?"

"For the time being, you must accept the power to command one of the servants of the Crimson Dragon," said Black-Winged Dragon, not bothering to answer the question, "Only by gaining the marking of the legendary dragon, can you start moving on your path towards your future of protecting people."

"When you put it that way… very well then! I'll accept your offer," exclaimed David, feeling like his head was going to explode from all this talk about '_chosen one_', '_Crimson Dragon_', '_Signer_', etc., "But how do I even accept the power of the…Crimson Dragon? And how do I even gain this marking you vaguely speak of?"

All of a sudden, as to possibly answer the question, the five dragons started glowing, causing David to also glow and cry out in what could seem to be pain.

(elsewhere…)

Back inside the Summer home of Discord J. Crawford, the four glowing marks on the forearms of Matt, Michael, Carlie, and James R. all faded away.

"What the heck?" wondered James R..

"What happened?" asked Carlie.

"I don't know," answered Matt, "I think the newest Signer has accepted the power, although I don't know who that person could even be."

"Sounds to me like this mystery has gotten a whole lot more confusing," mused Zack, folding his arms in deep thought.

It sure has…

(elsewhere…)

Back in the unknown dimension, there was what could be seen as a full-looking dragon-like mark appearing on David's back. All of a sudden, a new marking appeared on his right forearm (which was shaped like a dragon's heart or something).

"What…is happening…to me?" winced David, once the pain wore off.

"Well done, David Xadashi," praised Stardust Dragon, "You are now a Signer."

"Go forth, young one! Do what you must do, now!" ordered Red Dragon Archfiend.

"I only wish I knew what that is!" argued David, "If you mean win the duel, I just can't! Vincent has me completely pinned down, and he has a monster that is even more dangerous than-"

"Do not fear," interrupted Ancient Fairy Dragon, "You have the power to win. The key involves your 'Power Tool Dragon'; you just need to further evolve it."

"Further evolve? You mean Synchro Summon?" pressed David, "But…I don't have such a card in my Extra Deck!"

Unfortunately, the bright light started up again, causing the aqua blue-haired boy to, once again, cry out in surprise and cover his eyes.

(elsewhere…)

Back in Zack's room, Matt, Michael, Carlie, James R., and Zack all felt their Signer markings return.

"Man, this is getting more and more weird," commented James R..

"Think we should go tell Discord?" suggested Carlie.

"It would be the right thing to do," agreed Zack, "He was the one to tell us about the legend of the Crimson Dragon and the Signers, so he would definitely be the one to go and see. We'll go and tell him when he returns from his meeting."

The gang nodded in agreement.

(elsewhere…)

Back in the Manchester High School Football field, the light was beginning to dim in the center of the duel field. When it died down, David was shown to still be on his hands and knees whilst panting hard from the loud screaming he let loose.

"W-What happened to me?" he stammered, before feeling something react on his right forearm, "Huh? What is this feeling on my arm?"

Rolling his shirt's sleeve up, David, to his shock, discovered something unusual on his forearm - it was a glowing mark of a dragon's heart.

"This marking… Could this be the power I was given?"

"Hey!" The voice of Vincent shouted, causing David to look up. The spiky black-haired boy looked a bit cross, "What the hell did you do? Are you trying to kill us all or something?!"

"Nothing of the sort!" argued David, "I found myself in a dimension of a sort, and there were these five dragons-"

"Save the stories for the school of delusions!" snapped Vincent, before pointing at his opponent, "It's your turn now, crybaby!"

"You are to cease calling me that!" David growled in response, finally getting back to his feet, "Too long you have pushed me around, and I'm not going to take it lying down any longer!" He then drew a card, "It's my turn!"

* * *

**Turn Seven**: David Xadashi (LP: 800)  
**Deck**: 51  
**Current Hand (1)**: "Pot of Greed"

* * *

His drawn card was the 'Pot of Greed' Spell Card.

"This will be a start!" David held his drawn card out, "I activate 'Pot of Greed'! According to its effect, I can draw 2 more cards!"

Vincent snorted, watching as his opponent drew two more cards. David saw that his drawn cards were 'Monster Reborn' (Spell Card) and 'Morphtronic Smartfon' (Tuner monster Card). Knowing that the two cards were a start, David took one of them and placed it onto a Monster Field slot on his Duel Disk.

"By removing 1 'Morphtronic' monster from my GY," explained David, as the 'Morphtronic Celfon' Monster Card ejected from the GY before fading away into oblivion, "I can Special Summon 'Morphtronic Smartfon' from my hand!"

Appearing onto the field was a smartphone like robot, which morphed into a more humanoid-like form (Level 1:/ATK: 100/DEF: 100).

"Weak!" huffed Vincent.

"I'm not done," reminded David, just as a large dice materialized above the center of the field, "The Attack Position effect of 'Smartfon'! Once per turn, I can roll a six-sided die. Depending on the result, I can excavate that many cards from the top of my Deck, adding 1 excavated 'Morphtronic' card to my hand while shuffling the rest back into the Deck."

The dice landed on the ground, rolled along the ground, and landed on a…

"The result is two!" declared David, drawing the top two cards of his Deck ('Morphtronic Magnen' and 'Hidden Armory'), "As a result, I can excavate the top 2 cards of my Deck and add 1 'Morphtronic'-related card into my hand."

With the remaining card shuffled back into his Deck, David was ready to turn things around and defeat Vincent! From there, the 'Monster Reborn' Spell Card materialized face-up on the field.

"From my hand, I'll activate 'Monster Reborn'!" The aqua blue-haired boy went on, taking a card from his GY and holding it out, "I resurrect 'Power Tool Dragon'!"

"You what?!" exclaimed Vincent.

Reappearing on the field was 'Power Tool Dragon' (Level: 7/ATK: 2300/DEF: 2500).

"You must be joking!" snapped Vincent, "Your piece of crap dragon is no match for my own monster - 'Dark Strike Fighter'!"

"Again, I'll activate the effect of 'Power Tool Dragon'!" announced David, as his Deck shuffled about before leaving a loose card at the top, "Once per turn, during my Main Phase, I can add 1 random Equip Spell from my Deck into my hand."

He drew the card, which was revealed to be a Spell Card called 'Morphtronic Repair Unit'. Vincent, meanwhile, sneered in disgust.

"What was the point?" he demanded, "Your 'Power Tool Dragon' stands no chance against my monster!"

'Dark Strike Fighter' stood ready for battle (Level: 7/ATK: 2600/DEF: 1800).

"Just admit it! My power exceeds far beyond your ability to reach! Surrender the duel, now!"

"You underestimate me, Vincent-kun!" argued David, before clutching onto his right arm (where the Signer Mark laid), "I do indeed possess the power to reach you… and I'll also utilize it to defeat you!" He closed his eyes tightly, "No matter what you or your friends say about me or my monster, I'll show you and everyone else the true power of 'Power Tool Dragon'!"

All of a sudden, the marking began to glow once more, seeing as the legendary dragon those other five dragons spoke of acknowledged David's prayers. Upon opening his eyes, David suddenly created a new card and held it up in his right hand as it glowed brightly and red energy was released from the Signer Mark.

"W-What the-?!" cringed Vincent.

"I'm Tuning my Level 7 Synchro Monster, 'Power Tool Dragon', with the Level 1 Tuner monster, 'Morphtronic Smartfon'!" announced David.

"What did you say…?!" Vincent, even more shocked than before, stuttered.

The audience didn't know what to make of this turn of events.

"Does David even have a monster stronger than 'Power Tool Dragon'?" Sean whispered to Janice.

"None that I'm aware of," shrugged Janice, "But, what's worrying me is he's glowing for some reason."

Back in the duel field, both 'Power Tool Dragon' and 'Morphtronic Smartfon' rose into the forming fire-like energy in the sky, causing the symbols 7 plus 1 equals 8 to briefly appear. However, David did not speak a Summon Chant (not yet anyway), he was too busy gazing at whatever was forming in the sky.

"What is that?" The aqua blue-haired boy wondered. In his mind… "Could that be the Crimson Dragon those other dragons were referring to?"

In the audience…

"Is David the one doing this?" A girl from the audience quizzed.

"It can't be though!" Eric protested, "It makes no sense whatsoever!"

The fire-like energy soon morphed into a gigantic-looking dragon, causing the audience's attention to grow more and more concerned and/or awestruck.

"Oh my! What is that thing?!" Terry cried out, "Is it a dragon?"

"It sure looks like a dragon!" put in Alyssa.

"This is insanity!" objected Johnny, "That squirt can't be doing something like that! It's scientifically impossible!"

"Yeah! David's only a loser and crybaby!" added Derek.

Back in the duel field, David, realizing that this was the power he had been granted, was finally speaking a Summon Chant…

"_**The courage and power to protect the future of the planet is a Revolution**_!" chanted David, before his eyes started glowing all white, "_**Synchro Summon! Evolve - 'LIFE STREAM DRAGON'**_!"

The gigantic fire-like dragon (Crimson Dragon) breathed out a large fireball, which dissolved back into 'Power Tool Dragon'. All of a sudden, its body armor started breaking away, giving the dragon a more flesh and blood-like appearance—although it retained the chisel-like weapon that 'Power Tool Dragon' had on its left arm. Now on the field, 'Life Stream Dragon' stretched its arms out and let loose a roar to signal its arrival (Level: 8/ATK: 2900/DEF: 2400). David, meanwhile, was still holding his glowing card up, who soon dimmed and revealed a Synchro Monster Card containing artwork of the new monster. Soon, the Crimson Dragon let loose a final roar before fading away.

"N-No way!" stuttered Vincent fearfully.

"Behold, Vincent! My newest monster!" declared David, "'Life Stream Dragon'! Powered by my newly gained courage and desire to protect the people I care about, will be the catalyst for your downfall!"

"What was that?" seethed Vincent.

"And so, the first effect of 'Life Stream Dragon' activates!" As David spoke, 'Life Stream Dragon' let loose a loud roar as its wings began glowing all rainbow-like as specs of pixie-like dust rained down upon the teenage boy, "When Synchro Summoned, my LP are automatically set to 4000!"

Vincent cringed, "They what?! Rise all the way to 4000?!"

As the pixie dust rained down, David started glowing blue as his LP instantly recharged all the way to its initial amount (LP: 800 - 4000).

"This is a whole new duel, Vincent-kun!" declared David, pointing at his opponent, "Another effect of 'Life Stream Dragon'; you can't inflict any effect damage upon me so long as I control this monster!"

"You won't win, dweeb!" argued Vincent, "Although your monster is stronger I'll admit, I can still win against the likes of you!"

"Then observe as I activate a Spell Card from my hand!" David went on, before holding a card out. While speaking on, he then sent the 'Morphtronic Magnen' Monster Card from his hand to the GY, "'Morphtronic Repair Unit'! It lets me send 1 'Morphtronic' monster from my hand to the GY and target one other 'Morphtronic' in the GY and Special Summon that monster, equipping it with this card."

"_What monster will he choose_?" Vincent thought to himself.

On cue, 'Morphtronic Staplen' reappeared on the field (Level: 4/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1000).

"I've chosen to Special Summon 'Morphtronic Staplen'," explained David, "Due to the other effect of 'Morphtronic Repair Unit', I can't change the Battle position of the equipped monster."

"It's useless!" shouted Vincent, shaking his head in denial, "Your efforts and struggles aren't going to save you! I'm the level-up King! I'm always destined to win against not only you, but everyone else in this school!"

"My apologies, self-proclaimed '_King_', but you're about to be dethroned!" David retorted, poking a button on his Duel Disk, "I still have one remaining Set card to show you, and I've been saving it for this exact moment." His Set card flipped face-up and revealed itself to be… "Trap Card - 'Power-Up Adapter', activate!"

Vincent's face twisted with total horror upon seeing what his opponent activated; he knew what that Trap Card did.

"After activation, this card is treated as an Equip Card and I'm to equip it to 1 face-up 'Morphtronic' monster I control," explained David, "The equipped monster cannot declare an attack. Succeeding that, I can select 1 face-up monster on the field, except the equipped monster, allowing the selected monster to gain ATK equal to the ATK of the equipped monster."

Appearing onto the field was a large adapter, which aimed itself at 'Morphtronic Staplen' before beginning to electrically charge it.

"And now," David went on, pointing from 'Morphtronic Staplen' towards 'Life Stream Dragon', "I want 'Life Stream Dragon' to accept the power boost of 1400 ATK!"

From there, 'Morphtronic Staplen' started releasing the power it was charged with, directing it onto 'Life Stream Dragon' and causing the new Dragon-Type Tuner Synchro Monster to grow even more powerful than it already was (ATK: 2900 - 4300).

"As you can see, 'Life Stream Dragon' is now only still able to take down 'Dark Strike Fighter'," proclaimed David, "but your LP will not be able to withstand the attack!"

"This is absurd!" scowled Vincent, unable to believe he was about to be defeated by some loser, "Stop screwing with me! I can't be defeated by somebody like you! I just can't!"

"There's a first time for everything!" joked David, before growing serious, "In all honestly, I've been longing for a great while to knock you down a peg, and now my chance has finally come!" He, as his Signer Mark started glowing, entered the Battle Phase, "'Life Stream Dragon' will attack 'Dark Strike Fighter'!"

'Life Stream Dragon' took to the skies as its wings started glowing all gold. Finally, the attack name was given…

"**LIFE'S BEAUTY HOWL**!" commanded David.

With that said, 'Life Stream Dragon' breathed an extremely powerful blast of golden energy; not once, not twice, but three times in a row! The powerful attack soon struck and overwhelmed both 'Dark Strike Fighter' and Vincent.

"**RRRRRGH**!" cried Vincent, bracing himself from the power of the supercharged Life's Beauty Howl attack.

At last, 'Dark Strike Fighter' exploded from destruction. The force from the attack then became too much for Vincent to withstand, and he was sent flying back whilst screaming in pain and dread. The audience watched in amazement, while Vincent's friends only watched in dismay. When the smoke finally cleared in the duel field, Vincent was shown lying on the ground in complete and utter defeat.

"Impossible…" The spiky black-haired boy groaned, as his LP finally dropped to zero (LP: 600 - 0), "Me, the level-up King, lose?"

* * *

**DUEL RESULTS: David Xadashi wins!**

* * *

The audience, with an exception to both Sean and Janice, was stunned by the result of the duel. The school's best duelist, Vincent Stevens, actually was beaten by a beginner—a beginner with newly gained powers of a sort. After what seemed like forever…

"Dave won!" whooped Janice.

"He's finally beaten Vincent!" added Sean.

The audience burst into cheers and applause for the victorious David. Nearby, Vincent's group of friends all, again, looked dismayed that their best friend had been defeated—even beginning to grow angry as a result.

"I don't believe it," groaned Eric.

"Vincent was beaten by a beginner!" came from Johnny, "He shouldn't have lost like that!"

"Pah! That idiot Vincent!" growled Derek, "Losing to a beginner is likely the worst thing that can happen to a great duelist!" He then started shouting out to Vincent, "Hey, Vincent! Look long and hard; losing to someone like David is one of the worst things to ever happen to a so-called champion like yourself! You suck, Vincent Stevens!"

All of a sudden, Eric and Johnny both joined in…

"Yeah, man, you suck eggs!" put in Eric.

"We don't want to be friends with a washed up, former champion, like you!" finished Johnny, "Consider us no longer your friend! The new champion of this school is David Xadashi! He rules, and you drool!"

Back in the duel field, Vincent, overhearing his former friends' declaration, weakly seat up and gazed long and hard at David with nothing but pure hatred written all over his (Vincent) face.

"David…!" The spiky black-haired boy snarled to himself, "I'm gonna get you back for this humiliation someday…"

For now, he would let David enjoy his victory. Because the next time they dueled, Vincent would crush David so badly he would never want to play Duel Monsters ever again. When would they duel? Nobody knew for certain.

(elsewhere…)

That evening, David was standing on the stage beside Mr. Atkins, with the audience all standing below with excitement.

"Let's give a big hand to the winner of the '**Duel Monsters: Duel Until You Drop**' tournament!" announced Mr. Atkins, "David Xadashi!"

The audience started clapping in response, while David was handed the poster of Thomas Billinton.

"Well done, David," praised Mr. Atkins, "You must be feeling very proud."

"(どうもありがとうございました) Dōmo arigatōgozaimashita (Thank you very much), Mr. Atkins," said David in Japanese, looking at the poster, "I do feel proud."

With that said, the aqua blue-haired boy turned and walked off the stage. While walking by the audience, many of the people who originally picked on David started praising him—such as…

"Yo, David! You rule, dude!" called Derek.

"You gotta teach us how you made moves like that!" put in Johnny.

"Yeah! I bet it's a wonderful story to tell!" finished Eric.

David frowned, but said nothing. The reason for it was clear; the people who picked on him were only praising him because he defeated Vincent in a duel and won the tournament. David was clearly much too smart to fall for such false admiration like that. Soon, David was approached by his two overjoyed best friends.

"Great job, Dave!" praised Sean, "You've finally defeated Vincent!"

"Not to mention you've earned the respect of the whole student body," added Janice.

"I didn't," David interrupted, talking gloomily, "Can't you both see? Nearly everyone here has bullied me for as long as I can remember, especially Vincent-kun and his friends. They're only praising me now because I won the tournament."

"Dave…" whispered Janice.

"I'm not going to be fooled by such empty praise from my peers," continued David, before walking away, "I haven't earned anyone's respect today."

Sean and Janice both looked sad and worried for their aqua blue-haired friend as he left the area to return to his house.

* * *

**MONTAGE**

As a result of his newfound dueling confidence, David started taking part in many small Duel Monsters tournaments held around the city and country, winning some prize money and new cards in the process. He rarely used 'Life Stream Dragon' whenever he dueled, mainly because he would only use it against duelists he thought were serious—not to mention 'Life Stream Dragon' was a bit overpowering in some places. Unfortunately, David also rarely if ever stuck around for the closing ceremonies or interacted with the fans…

"We love you, David!" Some fangirls squealed as David walked by.

The aqua blue-haired boy simply ignored those fans, which surprised Sean greatly and caused him to ask his best friend a question.

"Hey, why'd you walk away from them?" questioned Sean, "Those pretty girls were huge fans of yours. Couldn't you have at least stopped to give them an autograph or at least pose for a picture? It would have made them really happy."

David shook his head, "They weren't praising me for being me," The aqua blue-haired boy pointed out, "They were only praising me for my newfound powers and monsters."

"That's not true!" argued Sean, trying to reason with David, "I'm absolutely certain they were praising you for being you!"

Unfortunately, David simply walked away despite his friend's protests and reassurance about the fans. Thanks to the rather horrible experience from his childhood, David had come to believe that it wasn't him the people were praising, but rather they were praising him for his monsters and powers. Other than remaining friends with Sean and Janice, he began to rarely interact with other people his age due to having been put off the idea of making any sort of acquaintances by his youth. No matter what his friends tell him, David simply refused to make any new friends—which was quite sad in a truly heartbreaking way when you think about it.

Not only that, David also remained confined to his room whenever he wasn't at school or hanging out with Sean and/or Janice, working away at new robotics devices. At some point after he turned 15, he, with some help from both his Dad and Sean, even tried his luck at constructing a Duel Runner after seeing a special ad for one on TV (which also featured both the American Duel Monsters champion, Matt Fudo, and the '_King of Turbo Duelists_', Michael Atlas). It took some time to build, but when it was finished, David was eager to try it out. Of course, it took him tons more time to actually get used to riding a Duel Runner and playing Duel Monsters at the same time (along with suffering some minor scrapes and bruises in the process). Ultimately, the aqua blue-haired boy got good enough to try his luck with a couple of Turbo Duel-like tournaments. Again, he rarely ever used 'Life Stream Dragon' in his duels and seemed to always want to leave before the closing ceremonies could even begin.

"Good ride, David," praised Ren, as soon as he saw his son approaching with a trophy, "Shall we-"

"Let's go home, Dad," said David immediately, interrupting his own Father, "I've won the tournament, so there's no point in me staying."

Ren was surprised by David's quick decision to want to leave before the official closing ceremony could start, watching as he (David) climbed aboard the nearby Duel Runner, put a helmet on, and revved the vehicle up. Reluctantly, Ren climbed aboard David's Duel Runner and put a helmet on, and the aqua blue-haired boy drove down the road.

**END MONTAGE**

* * *

It was now the year 2012, about three or so years after David Xadashi took up Duel Monsters, became a Signer, earned the 'Life Stream Dragon' Tuner Synchro Monster Card, and defeated Vincent in a duel… It was currently a Saturday morning in the season of Spring, and David, now 17-years old, was all alone in his room, working on yet another robotics device (something far more advanced than the last one he and Sean built). Most recently, David had won another minor tournament, but again bailed on the closing ceremony.

"(ぼくのベルトの下でさらに別の勝利…) Boku no beruto no shita de sarani betsu no shōri… (Yet another victory under my belt…)" David mumbled to himself in Japanese, "Oh well, I'm just about done with-"

There was a sudden knock on his bedroom door.

"David! David!" The voice of Janice called out, urgently.

"Are you in there!?" The voice of Sean added.

David sighed, "Sean and Janice…" he replied to himself, not looking up from his work, "Come in."

The door opened, and both Sean and Janice, now 17-years old as well, entered the room. In Sean's hand was what appeared to be a letter of a sort. That caused David to finally look up from his work.

"Sean? Janice?" quizzed David, "What's going on? And what's that in your hand, Sean?"

"It's a letter," answered Sean, holding the envelope out, "And it's addressed to you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you," confirmed Janice, "While Sean and I were on our way here, the mail person requested that we give this to you."

With that said, David took hold and opened the envelope. Inside were plane tickets and a letter. This was what the letter read:

"_To David Xadashi… In light of your recent achievements in dueling, you are hereby invited to join other duelists like you who have also achieved great things in life and compete in a special Duel Monsters tournament in New York City. Several duelists from both the United States and the United Kingdom will be competing. This could in turn help you achieve further great things that not even you realize are possible._

_I truly hope that you will be there to compete, and you may also bring along any friends and family members you have to come watch the tournament and/or help you prepare for the duels._

_Yours truly, Rex Godwin."_

"Rex Godwin?" blinked Janice, "Who's that?"

"More importantly, Dave, New York City?!" gasped Sean, looking excited for his best friend, "That's all the way in America! You've been given a chance to go to the United States, and you can even bring your parents, sister, and both of us along! Isn't that wonderful?!"

"The United States?" blinked David, who was puzzled, "The United States…"

"Isn't this great?" asked Janice, smiling, "Not only do you get to go to the United States and show everyone what you can do, but you might even make some new friends in the process."

"I don't '_want_' to make new friends," protested David, shaking his head stubbornly, "They will only want to be around me because of my powers and cards. Why can't you guys get that?"

"The people there aren't like that!" argued Sean, "Look, I've said this before, and I'll say it again… You can't just expect every single person to be like those who picked on you. Casting other people out of your life isn't going to solve everything, Dave. If you keep shutting yourself out when people offer friendship to you, then there might be a chance even '_we_' might lose respect for you. You have to stop living in the past, and give new people a chance!"

David simply took another long look at the letter, before deciding to show it to his parents. Whatever the decision was on the matter, David, unknown to him, was going to make a bunch of new friends in this upcoming adventure to the United States—friends that share the exact same gift as he did. And he was going to accept it, whether he wanted to or not.

**David Xadashi**  
**The End**

* * *

And that's that; David Xadashi's story has officially come to an end. At some point, there will be a second mini story focused on the remaining Signer. When will work begin on that story? I have no idea. Until then, have a Happy New Year!


	5. Bonus 1 - The Ace Rider

This story was done in collaboration between me, Jriddle41 (Sodormatchmaker on DeviantART), and DaveMan1000 (both here and on DeviantART), and we own the OCs that are used in the story. Everything else belongs to their respective owners:

Thomas and Friends (c) Hit Entertainment and Mattel

The Railway Series (c) Rev Wilbert Awdry

Yu-Gi-Oh! (c) Konami

Character of David Xadashi (c) DaveMan1000

NOTE 1: What? Did you all really believe that the last chapter was the end of David's introductory story? Hardly. Thanks to some new duel ideas from AaronCottrell97, David Xadashi is going to get two more chapters to help build him up some more.

NOTE 2: There will some Japanese writing in this story (provided by DaveMan1000), because David occasionally speaks Japanese.

NOTE 3: Once more, this story is rated K10 for mild violence and some mild language.

* * *

Opening up in a huge stadium in early February of 2010…

"LADIES AAAAAAND GENTLEMEN!" A Master of Ceremony (MC) was yelling into his microphone, "Welcome to the finals of the first annual Turbo Duel Festival here in Crovan's Gate!"

The whole crowd in the stadium burst into loud cheers.

"Many up-and-coming Turbo Duelists did their best to try and advance, but only two could make it to the final battle!"

(elsewhere…)

Inside one of the garages, David, now 15-years old, was getting himself ready for the final battle of this new tournament. Obviously, he was very happy to actually be visiting the Island of Sodor even if it was just for one Turbo Duel.

"This is it," David said to himself, "The moment to which all of my preparations have groomed me to."

Thankfully, he was not alone; his Father Ren, and two best friends Sean and Janice each came along to watch him compete, and they were watching from the stands with everybody else. Soon, David and his Duel Runner, The Wild Card, were ready…

"Let battle commence!" The aqua blue-haired boy declared, revving his Duel Runner up.

And away the vehicle went…

(elsewhere…)

Back in the main half of the stadium…

"Our first finalist is an intelligent young lad!" The Sudrian MC continued speaking, "He lives in '**Manchester - England**', and is well on his way to becoming a great duelist! Please put your hands together and welcome David Xadashi!"

As the crowd started applauding again, the first gate burst open and revealed David riding The Wild Card. The Duel Runner raced around the track for one lap before stopping at the starting line.

"_(僕は誰ですか?) Boku wa daredesu ka? (Who am I to face?)_" thought David in Japanese.

"And his challenger!" declared the Sudrian MC, "He is a world famous Turbo Duelist all the way from Australia! Behold the daredevil king himself - Ace Enzo!"

The second gate burst open and revealed a very familiar-looking blonde-haired young man riding his own Duel Runner. David, meanwhile, looked silently surprised about it; he heard about Ace and that he was a good Turbo Duelist.

"Woohoo! Hellooooo, Crovan's Gate!" whooped Ace, as he drove up to the starting, "I hope you're all ready for a show, because I can tell you that this is going to be a real treat of a duel!"

David stared at his opponent neutrally. It was then the Sudrian MC had an announcement to make…

"Now, before we begin this duel," he announced, "I would like to let everyone know that we have a very special guest in the audience watching this final duel! Give it up for the '**_King of Games_**' himself - Thomas Billinton!"

The spotlight began shining on one part of the audience. Standing and waving to the overjoyed crowd was Thomas Billinton, the '**_King of Games_**' himself. Sitting beside him and also applauding was his girlfriend Emily Stirling. Both teenagers were visiting Crovan's Gate at the request of the MC of the town. David, meanwhile, gasped when he heard that Thomas was in the audience.

"T-Thomas-kun?!" he exclaimed, "He is actually here?! (僕は彼をとても尊敬しています！) Boku wa kare o totemo sonkei shite imasu! (I have a great deal of respect for him!)"

"Well, well… Never thought I'd see him again so soon," remarked Ace, recognizing Thomas.

David was surprised, "You've met Billinton-san once before?"

"I did, but not in a way I expected," replied Ace, "Now, why don't you and I get this show on the road?"

David nodded and resumed focus on the road, waiting for the timer to countdown to zero. Once the five ticks counted to three, the Sudrian MC gave the ultimate word…

"Turbo Duel… **ACCELERATION**!" he yelled out, once the three remaining ticks ran out.

Both The Wild Card and Ace's Duel Runner sped down the road and around the race track. Ultimately, David managed to get ahead of Ace and cross the finish line first.

"David gets the first turn!" declared the Sudrian MC.

"It's my turn!" exclaimed David, drawing a card, "Draw!"

* * *

**Turn One**: David Xadashi (LP: 4000)  
**Deck**: 54  
**Current Hand (6)**: "Morphtransition", "Morphtronic Magnen", "Morphtronic Repair Unit", "Morphtronic Remoten", "Morphtronic Mix-up", and "Morphtronic Celfon"

* * *

His drawn card was the 'Morphtronic Celfon' Monster Card, which he nodded briefly at upon seeing the card.

"I Summon 'Morphtronic Celfon'!"

Appearing onto the field was the large yellow cellphone, which suddenly transfigured into a humanoid robot (Level: 1/ATK: 100/DEF: 100).

"Don't you know you're not supposed to use your phone while driving?" Ace joked.

"Sustain your sense of humor, because you'll soon bear witness to what this monster can do," retorted David, "While in Attack Position, once per turn, I can roll a six-sided die. To which I must reveal the amount of cards from top of my Deck equal to the roll and Special Summon a single Level 4 or lower 'Morphtronic' monster from among them, ignoring any Summoning conditions. After that, I must shuffle the remaining cards back into the Deck."

Out of thin air, a large die fell from the sky and rolled along the speeding field before landing on a…

"As I have rolled a three, I get to reveal the top 3 cards of my Deck," announced David, drawing three cards ('Power Break', 'Factory of 100 Machines', and 'Morphtronic Magnen') and looking them over, "From there, I can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower 'Morphtronic' monster from among them. And, rather unfortunate for you, I happened to draw one such monster!"

On cue, a Monster Card called 'Morphtronic Magnen' materialized face-up on the field.

"I Special Summon 'Morphtronic Magnen'!"

Appearing onto the speeding field was a large U-shaped magnet, which also transformed into a humanoid robot (Level: 3/ATK: 800/DEF: 800).

"Now," continued David, shuffling the other two cards back into his Deck, "I have to shuffle the remaining cards among the draw back into my Deck," From there, he took two more cards from his hand (which contained 'Morphtransition', 'Morphtronic Magnen', 'Morphtronic Repair Unit', 'Morphtronic Remoten', and 'Morphtronic Mix-up') and placed them onto Spell/Trap Zones on the Duel Runner, "I shall Set two cards face-down and end my turn!"

Two face-down cards materialized on the field around The Wild Card before they both faded away for later use. Meanwhile, over in the audience, but mainly with both Thomas and Emily…

"That David… What do you think of him, Thomas?" asked Emily.

"I sense a hidden power within him," Thomas answered, feeling his Millennium Puzzle glow and react over something, "I can't be too sure about it, we'll have to wait and see if he unveils it," He then shook his head, "Not only that, I didn't think we'd see Ace again so soon."

"I'm surprised he's still here on the Island of Sodor," agreed Emily, "Of course, I'm rather excited to see how those two fare in a duel. Thanks again for inviting me to go with you to Crovan's Gate, Tommy."

"It was my pleasure," smiled Thomas, before resuming focus on the duel, "After my last duel with Ace, I'm wondering if he's as good as last time."

Back in the stadium's track, both Duel Runners finished their first major laps.

"It's my turn!" declared Ace, drawing a card, "Draw!"

* * *

**Turn Two**: Ace Enzo (LP: 4000)  
**Deck**: 54  
**Current Hand (6)**: "Speed Recovery", "Speedroid Taketomborg", "Speedlift", "Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice", "Speedroid Den-Den Daiko Duke", and "Speedroid Shuriken Hurricane"

* * *

After adding the card into his hand, the blonde-haired young man took another card and placed it onto a Monster Field Zone on his Duel Runner.

"I Summon 'Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice'!" continued Ace.

Appearing onto the field was a large yellow die with a red eye (Level: 1/ATK: 100/DEF: 100).

"However, this won't be the only monster I'll bring out!"

"It's not?" quizzed David.

Ace smirked, "Nope," With that said, he took another card from his hand and placed it onto his Duel Runner, "Come forth - 'Speedroid Taketomborg'!"

Appearing onto the field was a blue robot monster with yellow limbs (Level: 3/ATK: 600/DEF: 1000).

"Amazing!" cried the Sudrian MC, "Ace has Summoned a second monster! How? By the use of 'Taketomborg's' effect! If you control a WIND monster, you can Special Summon this card from your hand!"

"A truly unforeseen action," worried David, but said it only to himself.

"Now, I'm Tuning my Level 3 Effect Monster, 'Speedroid Taketomborg', with the Level 1 Tuner monster, 'Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice'!" announced Ace.

'Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice' jumped into the air and turned into a Synchro Ring, which 'Speedroid Taketomborg' flew into, transforming into three orbs of light. The symbols 3 plus 1 equals 4 were shown briefly as a Summon Chant followed…

"**_Thousand-face possessing shadow of the labyrinth. With that sharp blade, render chaotic darkness_**!" chanted Ace, just as the orbs in the single Synchro Ring turned into a massive beam of light. "**_Synchro Summon! Level 4 - 'Hi-Speedroid Puzzle'_**!"

Emerging from the beam and onto the field, was what looked like a robotic ninja with a gatling gun for an arm (Level: 4/ATK: 1300/DEF: 1600).

"'Hi-Speedroid Puzzle'!" realized Emily.

Eeyup…

"BATTLE!" declared Ace, entering the Battle Phase. "I'll use 'Hi-Speedroid Puzzle' to attack 'Morphtronic Magnen'! And at the start of the Damage Step, if this card battles a Special Summoned monster, I can make this card's ATK become double its current ATK until the end of the Damage Step."

'Hi-Speedroid Puzzle', growing stronger (ATK: 1300 - 2600), obeyed, leaping into the air and beginning to fire its gatling gun at 'Morphtronic Magnen'.

"Don't count my monster out," grinned David, just as one of his face-down cards reappeared on the speeding field, flipped face-up, and revealed itself, "I activate a Trap - 'Morphtransition'! It activates only when a face-up 'Morphtronic' monster I control is selected as an attack target. I can negate the attack, and then, if I do this, change the battle position of the selected 'Morphtronic' monster."

Suddenly, 'Morphtronic Magnen' began to change back into its magnet form. 'Hi-Speedroid Puzzle's' ATK, meanwhile, returned to normal (ATK: 2600 - 1300).

"While in Defense Position, my opponent cannot select another monster as an attack target," David went on, "Attacking won't be as straightforward as you believe!"

"Ngh…" grimaced Ace, before taking another card from his hand and placing it onto his Duel Runner, "I Set one card and end my turn!"

On the monitor of The Wild Card, David saw that a face-down card had appeared on one of the Spell/Trap Zones. Over in the audience…

"David's good," commented Thomas.

"And Ace hasn't lost his touch either," added Emily, "Both sides are about even in skill. We'll have to see who will prevail in this duel."

Back on the track…

"Prepare yourself!" exclaimed David, drawing a card.

* * *

**Turn Three**: David Xadashi (LP: 4000)  
**Deck**: 52  
**Current Hand (4)**: "Morphtronic Magnen", "Morphtronic Repair Unit", "Morphtronic Remoten", and "Gift of the Mystical Elf"

* * *

His drawn card was a Trap Card called 'Gift of the Mystical Elf'.

"_This should provide quite the advantage_," thought David, before adding the card into his hand and taking another from it, "Come forth - 'Morphtronic Magnen'!"

Appearing onto the field was another copy of 'Morphtronic Magnen' (Level: 3/ATK: 800/DEF: 800). From there, another large die materialized in mid-air due to the effect of 'Morphtronic Celfon' being activated once more.

"Now, I'm sure you recall the Attack Position effect of 'Morphtronic Celfon', right?" joked David, "Since you do, here comes the roll of the die!"

The die began to fall, which hit the speeding track while rolling about before stopping on a four.

"As I have rolled a four," said David, drawing four cards and looking them over, "I can reveal the top four cards of my Deck and Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower 'Morphtronic' monster."

The drawn cards were 'Gadget Arms' (Effect Monster Card), 'Rocket Pilder' (Spell Card), 'Morphtronic Boomboxen' (Effect Monster Card), and 'Respect Synchron' (Trap Card).

"I've drawn 'Morphtronic Boomboxen'!" cheered David, taking one of the cards and placing it onto a Monster Field Zone on his Duel Runner, "As a result, I'll Special Summon it in Attack Mode!"

Appearing onto the field was a large, red and white boombox. Within seconds, it transformed into a robot (Level: 4/ATK: 1200/DEF: 400).

"Oh, and before I forget to mention it, I have two 'Morphtronic Magnen' in Defense Mode," continued David, "Based on their effects while being in a defensive stance, you, the opponent, are unable to select any other attack target! Seeing as how I control two copies…"

A magnetic force field materialized around The Wild Card thanks to the two copies of 'Morphtronic Magnens'.

"…I can't attack them or any of your monsters!" realized Ace.

"You're quite perceptive," David smirked, before deciding to make another move, "And now, I want you to witness this!" From there, his face-down card reappeared on the field in-front of his Duel Runner, flipped face-up, and revealed itself, "Reverse card, open - 'Morphtronic Mix-up', activate! If I control 2 or more face-up 'Morphtronic' monsters, I can select 2 cards my opponent controls and destroy 1 card of my opponent's choice from those 2."

"I have two cards… 'Hi-Speedroid Puzzle' and my Set card!" protested Ace, "That means one of them will have to go!"

"Afraid so," acknowledged David.

Ace scowled, "Fine… I'll let you destroy 'Hi-Speedroid Puzzle'!"

A large blast shattered 'Hi-Speedroid Puzzle' into shards of glass. Both Duel Runners roared down the track as they completed yet another lap, and the audience was growing more and more excited by the minute regarding the Turbo Duel. At last, David entered the Battle Phase…

"You are wide open!" The aqua blue-haired boy declared, "'Morphtronic Boomboxen', attack the opposing player directly!"

'Morphtronic Boomboxen' obeyed, letting loose a barrage of sonic boom waves from its speakers. Ace and his Duel Runner both got hit by the waves, causing the former to cry out as his LP took a hit (LP: 4000 - 2800).

"Now, I'll use 'Morphtronic Boomboxen' to attack you again!" continued David.

"What?!" gasped Ace.

"While in Attack Position, this card can attack twice during each Battle Phase!" David pointed out, "Take this!"

More sonic boom waves from the speakers of 'Morphtronic Boomboxen' ensued, causing Ace to yell as both his LP dropped again (LP: 2800 - 1600) and his Duel Runner started falling behind.

"And I still have one more monster that can attack, too!" reminded David, looking over his shoulder at his opponent, "'Morphtronic Celfon', strike!"

'Morphtronic Celfon' obeyed, charging up a blast as the numbers on him began to light up and dial.

"H-Hey! What's it doing?!" worried Ace.

His answer came when 'Morphtronic Celfon' fired off an electrical blast, hitting Ace and causing him to cry out (LP: 1600 - 1500).

"Oh my! Ace has lost 2500 LP in David's Battle Phase!" announced the Sudrian MC, "This leaves him with only 1500 LP left!"

"One more attack like that," David declared, "and it's over for you!"

Ace regained his balance, "Don't count me out just yet!"

"In that case," As he spoke, David placed a card onto his Duel Runner, "I'll Set one card and end my turn!"

A face-down card briefly appeared on the speeding field before fading away for later use.

"However, now that the End Phase has come, I'll let you know that I actually '_wanted_' 'Hi-Speedroid Puzzle' to be destroyed!" exclaimed Ace, suddenly smirking, "Once per turn, during the End Phase, if this card is in the GY because this Synchro Summoned card was sent there from the field this turn, I can target 1 'Speedroid' monster in my GY, except 'Hi-Speedroid Puzzle', and add it into my hand."

Just then, a card ('Speedroid Taketomborg') ejected from Ace's GY, which he took and added into his hand.

"And now, it's time for me to show you and the visiting crowd how I do things the best way," Ace declared, drawing a card, "Free and easy, that is!"

* * *

**Turn Four**: Ace Enzo (LP: 1500)  
**Deck**: 53  
**Current Hand (5)**: "Speed Recovery", "Speedlift", "Speedroid Taketomborg", "Speedroid Den-Den Daiko Duke", and "Speedroid Rubberband Plane"

* * *

His drawn card was a Monster Card called 'Speedroid Rubberband Plane', which brought a pleased smile to his face. Nevertheless, Ace had a far better idea…

"I'll use this later," Ace said to himself, adding the card into his hand before taking another from it, "For now, I'll play this card - 'Speedroid Den-Den Daiko Duke'!"

Appearing onto the field was a mechanical human monster dressed as a fancy duke (Level: 3/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000).

"In addition, I'll activate a Continuous Trap!" continued Ace, just as his Set card reappeared on the speeding field beside him (on his left), flipped face-up, and revealed itself to be… "'Speedroid Shuriken Hurricane'! Once per turn, if the ATK of a monster on the field is changed, I can inflict damage to your opponent equal to that change. If I control no 'Speedroid' monsters, I must destroy this card."

"_Then I'll have to make sure they're destroyed_," David thought to himself, "_Otherwise I'm in significant danger_."

"Next, since I control a Tuner monster and no other monster," said Ace, taking another card from his hand and placing it onto his Duel Runner, "I'll activate the Spell Card 'Speedlift'!"

As expected, a face-down card appeared on the field in-front of the blonde-haired young man's Duel Runner before flipping face-up and revealing itself.

"I can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower 'Speedroid' monster from my Deck."

A card slid out of Ace's Deck, which he caught, held out, and then placed onto a Monster Field Zone on his Duel Runner.

"I Special Summon 'Speedroid Ohajikid' from my Deck!" declared Ace.

Appearing onto the field was a robotic cowboy with only one eye shown on his face (Level: 3/ATK: 1000/DEF: 200).

"Now, when a 'Speedroid' monster is Special Summoned by the use of 'Speedlift', cards and effects cannot be activated," explained Ace, "However, I can get around that effect by doing this!" He gave the command… "I'm Tuning my Level 3 Effect Monster, 'Speedroid Ohajikid', with the Level 3 Tuner monster, 'Speedroid Den-Den Daiko Duke'!"

'Speedroid Den-Den Daiko Duke' turned into three Synchro Rings, which 'Speedroid Terrortop' dove into before turning into three orbs of light. The symbols 3 plus 3 equals 6 were briefly shown as Ace went into a Summon Chant…

"**_Magical sword with the form of a cross. Use your power to rend all enemies_**!" The blonde-haired young man chanted. Meanwhile, the orbs within the three Synchro Rings turned into a massive beam of light. "**_Synchro Summon! Appear now, Level 6 - 'Hi-Speedroid Kendama'_**!"

Appearing onto the field, once the Synchro Summon sequence came to an end, was the large blue device that resembled a three dimensional dagger glyph (Level: 6/ATK: 2200/DEF: 1600). With the audience…

"Ace is going for it!" realized Thomas, "Emily, this is only the start of Ace's counterattack!"

Back on the field…

"Now to continue building my field!" exclaimed Ace, placing another card onto his Duel Runner, "I Special Summon 'Speedroid Rubberband Plane' from my hand!"

Appearing onto the field was an old-fashioned rubber band-powered plane colored red and yellow (Level: 5/ATK: 1800/DEF: 0).

"If a monster is Special Summoned to your field,except during the Damage Step, I can Special Summon this card from my hand," continued Ace, "However, I cannot Special Summon monsters for the rest of this turn, except WIND monsters. But what matters right now is that I can activate 'Speedroid Rubberband Plane's' effect!"

"What might that be?" asked David.

"If this card is Normal or Special Summoned, I can target 1 face-up monster on the field; it loses 600 ATK until the end of this turn!"

"(何?!) Nani?! (What?!)" The aqua blue-haired boy cried out in Japanese, watching as 'Speedroid Rubberband Plane' started to attack or something.

"Now which monster shall I choose?" Ace asked jokingly, "Oh yes, I'll target your 'Morphtronic Boomboxen'! The attack will lower your monster's ATK by 600 points!"

'Speedroid Rubberband Plane' fired shots at 'Morphtronic Boomboxen', striking and causing it to grow weaker (ATK: 1200 - 600).

"What was the point in doing that?" asked David, "Due to my two copies of 'Morphtronic Magnen' being in Defense Position, you still can't attack."

"Remember the effect of 'Speedroid Shuriken Hurricane'?" reminded Ace, "Once per turn, if the ATK of a monster on the field is changed, I can inflict damage to my opponent equal to that change.

A large shuriken fired from the face-up 'Speedroid Shuriken Hurricane' Trap Card, striking David (LP: 4000 - 3400).

"And I still have other ways of inflicting damage!" Ace went on, as a card ('Speedroid Ohajikid') ejected from his GY, "I'm going to activate the effect of 'Hi-Speedroid Kendama'! Once per turn, I can banish 1 Machine-Type monster from my GY and inflict 500 damage to my opponent."

'Hi-Speedroid Kendama' fired shots at David, hitting and causing him to take more damage (LP: 3400 - 2900).

"Now, I'll return to building up my field!" As Ace spoke, the 'Speedroid Taketomborg' Monster Card reappeared on the speeding field, "As I control a WIND monster, I'll Special Summon 'Speedroid Taketomborg' once more!"

The blue and yellow robot reappeared to the field.

"And now, I'll activate the monster effect of the 'Speedroid Den-Den Daiko Duke' in my GY!" declared Ace, "I can banish this card from my Graveyard and Special Summon 1 'Speedroid' Tuner monster from my hand or GY, except 'Speedroid Den-Den Daiko Duke'!"

Thomas gasped, "Tuner monster?!"

"Thomas, could Ace be-" realized Emily.

"I believe he is," Thomas confirmed, "If my hunch is right, all he needs are the right monsters and the right Levels."

Back on the track…

"Come - 'Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice'!" commanded Ace, just as the GY section on his Duel Runner started glowing all white.

The large yellow die reappeared onto the field.

"And now, the monster effect of 'Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice' activates!" continued Ace, "When this card is Normal or Special Summoned, I can target 1 'Speedroid' monster I control, except 'Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice', and declare a Level from 1 to 6; the target becomes that Level until the end of this turn."

David flinched, "I know which monster and Level you intend to choose!"

"That's right," grinned Ace, before pointing at… "The 'Speedroid' monster I'll select will be 'Speedroid Rubberband Plane' and the Level I'll pick is 4!"

'Speedroid Rubberband Plane's' Level lowered by 1 (Level: 5 - 4).

"_I know what's coming next, so I'd better do this now_!" thought David, before announcing… "_I activate a Trap - 'Gift of the Mystical Elf'_!"

On cue, David's face-down card reappeared on the field, flipped face-up, and revealed itself.

"For every monster on the field," David explained, "I gain 300 LP."

Suddenly, a spirit of 'Mystical Elf' appeared in midair above David and began to chant gently, causing a ray of magic to shower on the aqua blue-haired boy as his LP increased rather significantly (LP: 2900 - 5300). Unfazed by the LP gain, Ace, as he was about to complete another lap around the track, made a call to the Sudrian MC…

"Yo, announcer! Get somebody to make a ramp appear!" The blonde-haired young man requested, "I'll need it for what I'm about to do!"

Pressing a button on the console, the Sudrian MC made a large ramp appear onto the track.

"And now," Ace went on, "I'm Tuning my Level 4 Effect Monster, 'Speedroid Rubberband Plane', and my Level 3 Effect Monster, 'Speedroid Taketomborg', with the Level 1 WIND Machine Tuner monster, 'Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice'!"

As the Duel Runner approached the ramp, 'Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice' soared upward and turned itself into a Synchro Ring, while both 'Speedroid Taketomborg' and 'Speedroid Rubberband Plane' soared through the air into it.

"Here we go!" cried Ace, finally running his Duel Runner off the big ramp into the sky. "I'm coming through!"

Over in the audience…

"Here it comes!" warned Thomas.

"Is this why Ace required the ramp?!" Sean wondered.

"But those are all just holograms, right?" reminded Janice, "It sounds like a waste of time to go and do, if you ask me."

Back within the sky, the Duel Runner finally entered the Synchro Ring. Not only that, Ace was heard performing a Summon Chant…

"**_Through the tremendous power of speed, a new creature will bring light to the boring darkness_**!" The voice of Ace echoed through the beam of light. "**_SYNCHRO SUMMON_**!"

Finally, Ace and his Duel Runner both emerged from the beam of light, which started to show a new monster coming out.

"**_Show yourself, Level 8 - 'Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake'_**!"

Appearing from the beam of light, and flying behind Ace, was what looked like a huge, mechanical dragon-like 'Speedroid' monster (Level: 8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2800). Soon, the Duel Runner landed on the ground, with Ace flashing a wink, smile, and the peace sign. Even David had to silently admit that what Ace did was pretty cool, and so did the audience.

"Okay, that was…actually awesome," admitted Sean.

"Ace always likes doing stunts like those," commented Emily, "Even if they're crazy stunts."

Back on the track, both Duel Runners finished yet another lap as the duel was about to return to Ace's favor.

"With 'Kitedrake' out, your attack blocker combo is about to be wiped out!" announced Ace.

"I know, and I don't like it," David gulped, who knew of 'Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake' and its effects.

"The effect of my 'Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake' activates!" continued Ace, "If this card is Synchro Summoned, I can activate 1 of these effects…"

These were the effects:  
-"Destroy all other cards on the field."  
-"Negate the effects of all face-up cards your opponent currently controls."

"You're going to choose the first effect, aren't you?" worried David.

"Why, how did you know I was going to pick that one?" asked Ace in a highly teasing tone.

"Call it intuition…"

As expected, 'Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake' charged and unleashed an electrical-like blast, striking all other cards on the whole track and destroying them.

"At least your 'Hi-Speedroid Kendama' is gone, too," said David, who breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nope! It won't be gone for much longer," chuckled Ace, before holding a card out, "Spell Card - Speed Recovery'! It lets me target 1 'Speedroid' monster in my GY and Special Summon it."

"What did you say?!" cried David.

"Sad, but true! Now, return to me - 'Hi-Speedroid Kendama'!"

The robotic dagger glyph returned to the field.

"Then that means… I'm wide open for a direct attack by your two monsters!" panicked David.

"That's right!" Ace declared, before entering the Battle Phase. "Alright! The first one to attack will be 'Hi-Speedroid Kendama'!"

'Hi-Speedroid Kendama' obeyed, firing shots at David and causing him to cry out as he sustained major damage (LP: 5300 - 3100).

"Your turn, 'Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake'!" called Ace, "Attack the opposing player directly!"

'Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake' obeyed, firing an electrical blast at David, causing him to, again, scream while his Duel Runner, The Wild Card, began spinning out a bit (LP: 3100 - 100).

"DAVID!" Sean and Janice both cried out.

After a while, David managed to regain control of The Wild Card, but Ace had then managed to get further ahead on the track despite it not being a race.

"Ace's turn was…extremely good and effective," admitted Emily, "If David hadn't used 'Gift of the Mystical Elf', he would have been defeated in one turn. Do you think he can turn things around?"

"Nobody knows for certain," replied Thomas, "That's all up to David."

Back on the field, David began to think about his predicament.

"I'm at my limit," he mused, "I must find a way to turn the tide…"

"Since I've nothing else I can do," announced Ace, entering the End Phase, "I'm ending my turn right here. It's back to you, mate!"

David knew that he had to make his next, and likely final, move carefully. There was only one monster that could help him turn things around or even win the duel, but he needed the correct monsters out to Summon it.

"The duel's not over yet!" declared David, drawing a card, "I draw!"

* * *

**Turn Five**: David Xadashi (LP: 100)  
**Deck**: 50  
**Current Hand (4)**: "Morphtronic Magnen", "Morphtronic Repair Unit", "Morphtronic Remoten", and "Armory Call"

* * *

His drawn card was a Trap Card called 'Armory Call'. David added the card into his hand and took another card from it.

"This will be the first card of my final turn!" he announced, before placing it onto his Duel Runner, "I Summon 'Morphtronic Remoten' in Attack Mode!"

Appearing onto the speeding field was a white remote control, which turned into a humanoid robot (Level: 3/ATK: 300/DEF: 1200).

"'Morphtronic Remoten's' effect triggers!" David went on, taking a card ('Morphtronic Celfon') that ejected from his GY before letting it fade away into oblivion. "Once per turn, while in Attack Position, I can target 1 'Morphtronic' monster in my GY and banish that target in order to add 1 'Morphtronic' monster with the same Level as the target from my Deck into my hand."

He searched his Deck and found a card ('Morphtronic Magnen Bar') he was looking for; David added the 'Morphtronic Magnen Bar' Monster Card into his Deck, shuffled his Deck, and inserted it back into his Duel Disk

"If you don't mind me asking, what's the point of doing that?" asked Ace.

"Spell Card - 'Morphtronic Repair Unit', activate!" replied David, holding another card out. "I can send 1 'Morphtronic' monster from my hand to the GY and select 1 'Morphtronic' monster in my GY; I can Special Summon the selected monster and equip it with this card. The equipped monster cannot change its Battle Position."

After sending the 'Morphtronic Magnen Bar' Monster Card to the GY, another card ('Morphtronic Boomboxen') emerged in its place.

"Return to the field - 'Morphtronic Boomboxen'!"

The red-white boombox robot reappeared on the field in a flash.

"And now," announced David, "I'm Tuning my Level 4 Effect Monster, 'Morphtronic Boomboxen', with the Level 3 Tuner monster, 'Morphtronic Remoten'!"

As expected, 'Morphtronic Remoten' turned into three Synchro Rings, which 'Morphtronic Slingen' dove into. This resulted in the monster turning into four orbs of light as the symbols 4 plus 3 equals 7 appeared briefly, while David began a Summon Chant…

"**_Docking strength with courage to protect the Earth's peace_**!" chanted David. Soon, a new monster began to emerge from the forming beam of light within the trio of Synchro Rings, "**_Synchro Summon! Envoy of love and justice - 'Power Tool Dragon'_**!"

Appearing from the beam of light and flying through the sky for a short period of time, was the mechanical dragon-like monster (Level: 7/ATK: 2300/DEF: 2500). The audience grew excited at seeing such a monster, even Ace was impressed.

"That's not too shabby," The blonde-haired young man admitted, "I've never quite seen a monster like that before." He then smirked confidently, "However, it still lacks the power to go up against 'Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake'!"

With the audience…

"Can 'Power Tool Dragon' really be what David needs to win?" asked Emily, "What do you think, Thomas?"

No answer.

"Thomas?"

"'Power Tool Dragon'…" Thomas whispered seriously, "There's something about it. Like… this isn't its true form or something."

Back on the track, both Duel Runners roared down the road as David went on with his turn.

"I activate 'Power Tool Dragon's' effect!" The aqua blue-haired boy announced, "Once per turn, during my Main Phase, I can add 1 random Equip Spell Card from my Deck into my hand."

"Random?" quizzed Ace.

With that being said, David's Deck shuffled on its own before the top card slid out for him to collect; David then drew the card and looked at it very carefully before a smile broke out on his face.

"Ace, victory is mine," he said softly.

"What?! Victory is yours? How can that even be?" gasped Ace. "_What Equip Spell did he draw_?"

With that being said (and thought of), David held up his newly drawn card and turned it over to reveal what it was. The audience gasped at what the card was.

"I activate the Equip Spell 'Megamorph'!" declared David, "While my LP is lower than my opponent's, the equipped monster's ATK becomes double its original ATK. While my LP is higher, the equipped monster's ATK becomes half its original ATK."

Ace cringed when he heard those words (but mainly over what the card was), and remembered that his double direct attack sent his opponent down to 100 LP, and he had 1500 LP remaining. This meant that the 'Megamorph' Spell Card was going to double the ATK of the equipped monster. 'Power Tool Dragon', being equipped with the card, doubled in size as its ATK also went up (ATK: 2300 - 4600).

"An ATK of 4600?!" yelled Ace (LP: 1500), "That's enough to finish me off!"

"Correct!" confirmed David, as he entered the Battle Phase, "'Power Tool Dragon', attack 'Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake'! **CRAFTY BREAK**!"

'Power Tool Dragon' obeyed, slamming its bucket arm down on 'Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake', causing the crumbled monster to explode due to its destruction. Ace screamed from the backlash of the explosion as his remaining LP finally dropped all the way to zero (LP: 1500 - 0).

* * *

**DUEL RESULTS: David Xadashi wins!**

* * *

While the rest of the holograms faded, Ace's Duel Runner emitted steam upon defeat which made it come to a complete stop.

"AND THIS DUEL IS OVER!" The Sudrian MC wailed loudly, "The winner of the tournament is David Xadashi! THE WINNER IS DAVID XADASHI!"

The crowd cheered for David as he did his winning lap around the track.

"That was a great duel, wasn't it, Thomas?" Emily clapped cheerfully, but then noticed that Thomas was not in his seat, "Thomas? Thomas, where are you going?"

She saw Thomas starting to leave the arena.

"I'm going to see if I can have a word with this David," said Thomas, before smiling, "I want to see just how truly good of a duelist he '_really_' is."

Emily could only stare on, wondering what her lover could mean by that.

(elsewhere…)

Meanwhile, down on the track, David, having collected his trophy, had brought The Wild Card back to the garage for a rest and refuel.

"Another tournament finished," he said to himself. It was clear that he had intended to, for the umpteenth time, run away from the crowds to avoid making friends, "Now, to head off home."

"Hey, David!" called Sean, as he, Janice, and Ren each showed up, "Great job out there, man!"

"That's another win under your belt!" added Janice.

"Don't you want to at least stay for the closing ceremony, son?" asked Ren.

David shook his head, "Dad," he said, "I believe you should know by now that I don't stay for trivial matters such as that."

"But then what's the point of playing Duel Monsters if you won't even try to socialize with new people?" asked Sean, losing patience with his friend's silly philosophy.

Before David could answer…

"Not even for the '**_King of Games_**'?" A new voice (male) echoed.

Hearing the voice caused David to turn around. Could it be? Yes! Standing outside the garage was none other than Thomas Billinton.

**To be Continued!**


	6. Bonus 2 - David and Thomas

This story was done in collaboration between me, Jriddle41 (Sodormatchmaker on DeviantART), and DaveMan1000 (both here and on DeviantART), and we own the OCs that are used in the story. Everything else belongs to their respective owners:

Thomas and Friends (c) Hit Entertainment and Mattel

The Railway Series (c) Rev Wilbert Awdry

Yu-Gi-Oh! (c) Konami

Character of David Xadashi (c) DaveMan1000

NOTE 1: Thanks to, once again, AaronCottrell97, one more chapter focused on David's introductory story has been written and completed.

NOTE 2: There will some Japanese writing in this story (provided by DaveMan1000), because David occasionally speaks Japanese.

NOTE 3: Once more, this story is rated K10 for mild violence and some mild language.

* * *

(earlier…)

David had just brought his Duel Runner, The Wild Card, back to a garage for a fuel refill and a rest.

"Another tournament finished," he said to himself. It was clear that he had intended to, for the umpteenth time, run away from the crowds to avoid making friends, "Now, to head off home."

"Hey, David!" called Sean, as he, Janice, and Ren each showed up, "Great job out there, man!"

"That's another win under your belt!" added Janice.

"Don't you want to at least stay for the closing ceremony, son?" asked Ren.

David shook his head, "Dad," he said, "I believe you should know by now that I don't stay for trivial matters such as that."

"But then what's the point of playing Duel Monsters if you won't even try to socialize with new people?" asked Sean, losing patience with his friend's silly philosophy.

Before David could answer…

"Not even for the '**_King of Games_**'?" A new voice (male) echoed.

Hearing the voice caused David to turn around. Could it be? Yes! Standing outside the garage was none other than Thomas Billinton.

"Is that…?" began Janice.

"Thomas himself?" added Sean.

David couldn't believe who he was actually meeting; it was 'the' Thomas Billinton, the '**_King of Games_**' himself!

"Y-You're…Billinton-san!" peeped David, looking and sounding truly amazed, "I… It's a true honor to properly meet with you in-person! I have been a long time admirer of yours ever since your victory at the San Francisco Duel Monsters tournament last year!"

"And you're David Xadashi," replied Thomas, "From what we all saw today, you did really well in that duel against Ace, emerging victorious in the process."

"M-Many thanks," David bowed politely, feeling deeply honored to be complimented by his idol.

"Although I'm curious to know…" continued Thomas, before asking a question, "Is there any reason you're leaving the tournament right away? There's still the closing ceremony left."

Before David could say anything else…

"Whoa! Who's that?!" gawked Sean, staring at the gorgeous girl walking up to Thomas, "She's pretty!"

Thomas smiled, "I'm glad you asked," The blue-haired boy said, before deciding to do some introducing, "This is my beloved emerald Emily Stirling."

"Hello, everyone," Emily greeted sweetly.

Almost immediately, Sean tried hitting on the beautiful Emily…

"Hey there, beautiful," he flirted, trying to put an arm around the girl, "Why haven't we met before?"

Janice scowled in response, while Emily giggled in amusement. Thomas, however, got annoyed that a guy was hitting on HIS girl.

"Excuse me," Thomas stated sternly, "but is there any particular reason you as to why you're hit on '_my_' girlfriend?"

Sean gulped, "Err… Nevermind."

With that being said, he backed away from Emily. David couldn't help but laugh a little bit.

"I take it this is a common occurrence?" he joked.

"Not really often, but yeah. My Tommy doesn't like it when other boys try to hit on me," giggled Emily, before looking back at David with interest, "And, David, speaking of your name…"

"Actually, you may refer to me simply as Dave," offered David, "As all my close friends and acquaintances do."

"Oh, my apologies then," Emily apologized, "Anyway, Dave, you actually share the same first name as my cousin - David Ryder. He joined the British Navy when he was in his early 20's."

"Wow, that sounds really interesting," admired Janice, "You actually have a family member who serves in the navy! Your family must be really proud of him."

"We sure are."

"Now, perhaps we can get some answers," Thomas went on, looking back to David and getting back on topic, "Why are you leaving the tournament so soon without attending the closing ceremony like everyone else?"

"I already have my trophy, Billinton-san," answered David, "I really don't see any reason for me to remain here any longer."

"But you could socialize with other people and potentially make new friends," Emily pointed out.

"Let's just say my son has a few…how shall I put it…social problems," interrupted Ren.

"Social problems?" repeated Emily, "Like what?"

"David hates the idea of making new friends," replied Sean, clearly fed up, "Everytime he finishes a duel, he either declines or runs away without taking the time to chat with the others."

"Ever since Dave moved from Shibuya, Tokyo to Manchester, he was bullied by the other kids," put in Janice, "The fact he spoke little to no English at the time didn't really help him. After winning a Duel Monsters tournament at our high school a while back, Dave became convinced that people were not actually cheering for him, but rather for his cards. And ever since that day, he's been extremely reluctant to make any new friends or fully socialize with other people."

"Though it's far too ridiculous if you ask me," complained Sean, "We've told him time and time again to stop judging the whole world just because of a handful of bullies, but he isn't going to listen to us about it! If he keeps doing this, everyone's going to think he's nothing but a coward!"

Hearing one of his best friends talk so poorly about him, going as far as to calling him a coward, made David feel very unhappy.

"Though that '_is_' David's choice, Sean," said Ren firmly, "That's something you should be aware of. And as one of his best friends, you need to try and respect that."

Sean groaned in dismay. It was then Thomas smiled as he finally revealed the reason why he came over to see David…

"Before you leave to go home…" Thomas spoke up, "…why don't you and I have a one-on-one duel?"

"What?! A duel with you?" gasped David, hoping that he heard that request clearly, "Billinton-san, such an opportunity has been a long time ambition of mine since I originally became a follower of yours!"

"So, I'm going to take that as a yes?" asked Thomas.

David merely got his Duel Disk from The Wild Card, put it on, and activated it in response.

"Does that answer your question?" chuckled Ren.

With the duel agreed to, Thomas and David both emerged from the garage and took their spots in the middle of the road for their match.

"Billinton-san, I won't lose!" insisted David.

"Just as I won't either," replied Thomas, activating his Duel Disk, "Dave, it's time to duel!"

With that said, the two duelists drew their opening hands and commenced with the duel (LP: 4000) x2.

"And so it begins," admired Janice, "Who knows who will win this duel?"

Back in the duel field…

"It's my turn!" declared David, drawing a card, "Draw!"

* * *

**Turn One**: David Xadashi (LP: 4000)  
**Deck**: 54  
**Current Hand (6)**: "Gadget Driver", "Morphtronic Vacuumen", "Morphtronic Clocken", "Morphtronic Accelerator", "Morphtronic Slingen", and "Morphtronic Map"

* * *

His opening hand contained 'Gadget Driver', 'Morphtronic Vacuumen', 'Morphtronic Clocken', 'Morphtronic Accelerator', 'Morphtronic Slingen', and the drawn 'Morphtronic Map'.

"With this, I'll strike steadfast," smirked David, before holding his drawn card out, "Watch this, Billinton-san! Field Spell - 'Morphtronic Map', activate!"

The scenery around them changed, turning into a workshop with a huge map.

"'Morphtronic Map'?" pondered Thomas.

"Each time a monster's battle position is changed, I can place 1 Morph Counter on this card," explained David, "All 'Morphtronic' monsters gain 300 ATK per each Morph Counter on this card," From there, he took another card from his hand and placed it onto a Monster Field Zone on his Duel Disk, "Now, I'll Summon 'Morphtronic Clocken' in Attack Mode!"

Appearing onto the field was a large, white clock that transformed into a humanoid robot (Level: 2/ATK: 600/DEF: 1100).

"From there," David went on, taking and holding out a card ('Gadget Driver'), "I'll activate the effect of the 'Gadget Driver' in my hand! I can send this card from my hand to the GY and select any number of face-up 'Morphtronic' monsters I control and change the battle position of the selected monster(s)."

After sending the 'Gadget Driver' Monster Card to the GY, 'Morphtronic Clocken' morphed itself back into its clock form (DEF: 1100).

"And now, because a battle position has changed," announced David, before pointing at his face-up 'Morphtronic Map' Spell Card, "My face-up 'Morphtronic Map' will gain a Morph Counter!"

The hour hand on the face-up 'Morphtronic Clocken' Spell Card moved around once and back to the 12. As a result of the Morph Counter, 'Morphtronic Clocken' grew stronger (ATK: 600 - 900).

"Next, I'll activate the Defense Position effect of 'Morphtronic Clocken'!" continued David, "Once per turn, I can place 1 Morph Counter on this card."

The hour hand on 'Morphtronic Clocken' made another spin, giving it a Morph Counter.

"I will also activate the other effect of my monster! I can Tribute this card to inflict 1000 points of damage to my opponent for each Morph Counter on it."

"1000 points of damage?!" Thomas cringed.

'Morphtronic Clocken's' alarm began to ring, causing a sound wave to hit Thomas and push him back a little bit (LP: 4000 - 3000). After that, 'Morphtronic Clocken' shattered into shards of glass.

"From my hand," said David, just as a Spell Card called ''Morphtronic Accelerator materialized face-up on the field, "It lets me return 1 'Morphtronic' monster from my hand to the Deck. From there, I must destroy 1 card on the field, and then I can draw 1 card."

The aqua blue-haired boy then took a card ('Morphtronic Vacuumen') from his hand and placed it back into his Deck.

"Now, I'll destroy my own 'Morphtronic Map'!" he declared, just as his face-up 'Morphtronic Map' Spell Card shattered into shards of glass.

The scenery began changing back to normal. From there, David drew a card. The card was a Trap Card called 'Morphtronic Forcefield'.

"_This will be useful in the coming turns_," David thought to himself, before speaking aloud… "Now, since 'Morphtronic Map' was destroyed and sent from the field to the GY, I can Special Summon 1 'Morphtronic' monster from my GY."

Within seconds, 'Morphtronic Clocken' returned to the field as, what else, a clock. This was followed by a face-down card materializing on the field behind the returned monster.

"I Set one card face-down and end my turn!" finished David, "Billinton-san, show me what you can do as a True Duelist!"

"Here I come, Dave!" announced Thomas, drawing a card, "It's my turn!"

* * *

**Turn Two**: Thomas Billinton (LP: 3000)  
**Deck**: 54  
**Current Hand (6)**: "Thousand Knives", "Chaos Form", "Magician of Black Chaos", "Black Illusion", "Magician of Chaos", and "Magicians' Souls"

* * *

"As 'Magicians' Souls' is in my hand, I'll activate one of its effects! If this card is in my hand, I can send 1 Level 6 or higher Spellcaster monster from my Deck to the GY in order to Special Summon this card!"

A card ('Dark Magician') ejected from the middle of Thomas's Deck, which he took and sent to the GY. From there, the 'Magicians' Souls' Monster Card materialized face-up on the field.

"Come forth - 'Magicians' Souls'!" commanded Thomas.

Appearing onto the field were a set of spirits that resembled both 'Dark Magician' and 'Dark Magician Girl' (Level: 1/ATK: 0/DEF: 0).

"Then, from my hand, I'll activate a Ritual Spell - 'Chaos Form'!" Thomas went on, while taking and holding another card out, "I can select 1 'Chaos' or 'Black Luster Soldier' Ritual Monster in my hand, then I can send monsters from my hand and/or I control to the GY whose total Levels equal that card, then I can Special Summon that Ritual Monster. When I have 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon' or 'Dark Magician' in my GY, I can Special Summon 1 'Chaos' or 'Black Luster Soldier' Ritual Monster from my hand."

"If my assumption is accurate, then the Level 6 or higher Spellcaster monster you sent from your Deck to the GY…is 'Dark Magician'," grimaced David, making a random guess.

"Correct." confirmed Thomas, making David even more worried. From there, he took a card from his hand, raised it up, and slammed it onto his Duel Disk, "With 'Dark Magician' in my GY, I'll Special Summon 'Magician of Chaos' from my hand without making a sacrifice!"

Appearing onto the field was the evolved form of 'Dark Magician' (Level: 7/ATK: 2500/DEF: 2100).

"He just busted out a powerful Ritual Monster on his first turn," gasped Janice, "All without making a single Tribute!"

"Thomas Billinton doesn't play around," Sean admitted.

The two teenagers then became surprised when they saw the 'Thousand Knives' Spell Card materialize face-up on Thomas's side of the field.

"Hey, isn't that 'Thousand Knives'?" questioned Sean, "That card can only be played when you control a 'Dark Magician'."

"Unfortunately, Billinton-san is able to play that card," David pointed out, "While being on the field or in the GY, 'Magician of Chaos's' name becomes 'Dark Magician'."

At that moment, a barrage of knives appeared above 'Magician of Chaos', which, after the command was given, fired at 'Morphtronic Clocken'. The large clock-like monster was struck by the knives repeatedly, soon to self-destruct as a result. David, however, was not going to lose his only monster that easily…

"I activate a Counter Trap!" he announced.

"What?!" gasped Thomas.

On cue, David's face-down card flipped up and revealed itself to be…

"'Morphtronic Forcefield'!" The aqua blue-haired boy cried out, "It allows me to negate the activation of a Spell or Trap Card that would eliminate a face-up 'Morphtronic' monster I control and destroy it. After that, I can add 1 'Morphtronic' card from my Deck into my hand."

A large forcefield enveloped 'Morphtronic Clocken', protecting it from the remaining knives created by the 'Thousand Knives' Spell Card. From there, the face-up 'Thousand Knives' Spell Card shattered into pieces of glass.

"Not bad," mumbled Thomas, but then smirked with triumph, "However, your monster is about to bite the dust anyway!"

"What did you say?!" cringed David.

"The monster effect of 'Magician of Chaos' activates!" continued Thomas, "Once per turn, when a Spell or Trap Card or effect is activated, I can target 1 card on the field and destroy it."

'Magician of Chaos' raised his scepter, charged a magical blast, and unleashed the attack. The attack struck through the forcefield and hit 'Morphtronic Clocken', destroying it in an explosion.

"'Clocken'!" called David, but quickly recovered and drew a card ('Morphtronic Scopen'), "The effect of 'Morphtronic Forcefield' still resolves! Now I get to add 1 'Morphtronic' card from my Deck into my hand,"

"It doesn't matter," Thomas pointed out, "With your monster gone, you're wide open for a direct attack. Go forth, 'Magician of Chaos'!"

'Magician of Chaos' obeyed, twirling his scepter in his left hand before pointing it at David and firing a blast of magic . David was struck head on by the attack, causing the aqua blue-haired boy to cry out as he got pushed back by it (LP: 4000 - 1500).

"I Set one card and end my turn," finished Thomas, just as a face-down card appeared on the field behind 'Magician of Chaos'.

"Ugh… such power and finesse. Though I should expect nothing less from Billinton-san," groaned David, "As '_**King of Games**_', he isn't to be taken lightly in combat," He then drew a card, "I draw!"

* * *

**Turn Three**: David Xadashi (LP: 1500)  
**Deck**: 52  
**Current Hand (3)**: "Morphtronic Scopen", "Morphtronic Slingen", and "Pot of Greed"

* * *

On cue, the 'Pot of Greed' Spell Card materialized face-up on the field.

"I activate the Spell Card 'Pot of Greed'!" As David spoke, he drew two more cards ('Morphtronic Lantron' and 'Junk Box'), "This allows me to draw two more cards."

"By activating a Spell Card, I'll activate 'Magician of Chaos's' effect again!" interrupted Thomas, "The card on the field I'll destroy…" He then pointed at… "…will be my own 'Magician of Chaos'!"

Within seconds, 'Magician of Chaos' vanished.

"What?! You're destroying your own monster?!" gasped David.

"What's going on?" demanded Janice.

"Now I'll activate 'Magician of Chaos's' final effect, " announced Thomas, just as a very familiar magical circle appeared on the ground where 'Magician of Chaos' once stood, "If this Ritual Summoned card is destroyed by battle or card effect, I can Special Summon 1 'Chaos' or 'Black Luster Soldier' Ritual Monster from my hand, except 'Magician of Chaos', ignoring its Summoning conditions."

'Magician of Chaos' suddenly reappeared above the magical circle.

"_**Become the wind that bears this ceremony, my honorable sacrifice**_," chanted Thomas, closing his eyes. as an aura of darkness started surrounding him, "_**The heir to chaos, born from the deep darkness**_…"

'Magician of Chaos' was then absorbed into the magical circle.

"_**Show your true form before us**_!" Thomas then opened his eyes, revealing them glowing all crimson red, "_**'Magician of Black Chaos'**_!"

On cue, a very familiar-looking Spellcaster-Type monster started rising; it was a blue-skinned magician wearing almost all black clothing, long black hair, and a black hat with red rims (Level: 8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2600).

"He just Summoned another powerful magician…" murmured Sean.

"He really is the '_**King of Games**_'!" agreed Janice.

Back in the duel field, David sweated a little bit because he knew that this was the power that his idol possessed. Nevertheless, he would not give up.

"Come forth - 'Morphtronic Scopen'!" ordered David, placing a card onto his Duel Disk.

Appearing onto the field was a large, black microscope, which transformed into a humanoid robot (Level: 3/ATK: 800/DEF: 1400).

"I activate the effect of 'Morphtronic Scopen'!" continued David, "While in Attack Position, once per turn, I can Special Summon 1 Level 4 'Morphtronic' monster from my hand. However, I must destroy it during the End Phase," With that said, he placed another card onto his Duel Disk, "I Special Summon 'Morphtronic Slingen'!"

Appearing onto the field was a purple slingshot, which also transformed into a humanoid robot (Level: 4/ATK: 1200/DEF: 800).

"However, I'm not done making preparations!"

"There's more?" pondered Thomas.

"Affirmative," acknowledged David, before taking and slotting a card into his Duel Disk, "Spell Card - 'Junk Box'! It lets me select and Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower 'Morphtronic' monster from my GY. I must destroy it during the End Phase," He held his left hand (with the Duel Disk) out, "Return to me - 'Morphtronic Clocken'!"

The white clock robot returned once again to the field.

"Now, I'll activate the Attack Position effect of 'Morphtronic Slingen'!" declared David, "Once per turn, I can Tribute 1 'Morphtronic' monster, except 'Morphtronic Slingen', to destroy 1 card on the field."

'Morphtronic Clocken' was loaded into 'Morphtronic Slingen's' slingshot, and fired at 'Magician of Black Chaos'. It looked to be the end of Thomas's ace monster, but, alas, it was not meant to be…

"Face-down card, open!" Thomas intercepted, pressing a button on his Duel Disk, "I activate a Trap - 'Black Illusion'!"

The Set card flipped face-up and revealed itself.

"Until the end of this turn, all DARK Spellcaster-Type monsters with 2000 or more ATK I currently control cannot be destroyed by battle, their effects are negated, also they are unaffected by my opponent's card effects!"

"(あなたのすべての暗いモンスター?!) Anata no subete no kurai monsutā?! (All of your DARK monsters?!)" exclaimed David in Japanese.

'Morphtronic Clocken' phased right through 'Magician of Black Chaos' as though he were nothing more than an illusion.

"Grr… An expertly executed maneuver by my idol," grunted David, "However, I am far from finished!" With that said, he gave the command… "I'm Tuning my Level 4 Effect Monster, 'Morphtronic Slingen', with the Level 3 Tuner monster, 'Morphtronic Scopen'!"

As expected, 'Morphtronic Scopen' turned into three Synchro Rings, which 'Morphtronic Slingen' dove into. This resulted in the monster turning into four orbs of light as the symbols 4 plus 3 equals 7 appeared briefly, while David began a Summon Chant…

"_**Docking strength with courage to protect the Earth's peace**_!" chanted David. Soon, a new monster began to emerge from the forming beam of light within the trio of Synchro Rings, "_**Synchro Summon! Envoy of love and justice - 'Power Tool Dragon'**_!"

As the Synchro Summon sequence ended, the mecha-like dragon appeared on the field with a loud roar (Level: 7/ATK: 2300/DEF: 2500). From there, Thomas felt his Millennium Puzzle begin to glow and react.

"That dragon again…" he murmured.

"That's what won Dave that duel," commented Emily.

"Now, I'll activate 'Power Tool Dragon's' effect!" announced David, "Once per turn, during my Main Phase, I can add 1 random Equip Spell Card from my Deck into my hand," He then declared the name of his monster's effect… "**POWER SEARCH**!"

With that being said, David's Deck shuffled on its own before the top card slid out for him to collect; David then drew the card and looked at it very carefully before a smile broke out on his face.

"Here's what I require to gain the lead, Billinton-san," The aqua blue-haired boy remarked.

"Huh?" quizzed Thomas.

"Equip Spell - 'Power Pickaxe'!" announced David, holding his card out, "I shall adorn this card onto 'Power Tool Dragon'!"

A mechanical pickaxe materialized on 'Power Tool Dragon's' arm, causing it to let out a roar.

"Once per turn, I can select and remove from play 1 monster in my opponent's GY whose Level is less than or equal to the equipped monster's. If the equipped monster battles during the same turn that this effect was used, it gains ATK equal to half of the removed monster's ATK, during the Damage Step only."

"Any 1 monster from my GY?" worried Thomas.

"Now, I activate the effect of 'Power Pickaxe'!" David went on, "I will remove your Level 7 'Magician of Chaos' from the game!"

The spirit of 'Magician of Chaos' briefly appeared on the field before being absorbed by 'Power Pickaxe'.

"BATTLE!" declared David, entering the Battle Phase, "'Power Tool Dragon', attack 'Magician of Black Chaos'! From the effect of 'Power Pickaxe', half of 'Magician of Chaos's' ATK is given to 'Power Tool Dragon' during the Damage Step!"

'Power Tool Dragon' obeyed, diving at 'Magician of Black Chaos' while growing stronger in the process (ATK: 2300 - 3550).

"**CRAFTY BREAK**!"

'Power Tool Dragon' struck 'Magician of Black Chaos' with its pickaxe-like weapon, but was then repelled by the 'Chaos' Spellcaster monster.

"Due to the effect of 'Black Illusion', 'Magician of Black Chaos' is not destroyed in this battle!" reminded Thomas, who then took damage from the resulting attack (LP: 3000 - 2250). "But, my LP will reduce by 750 points due to your attack."

With the battle over, 'Power Tool Dragon's' ATK returned to normal (ATK: 3550 - 2300).

"Billinton-san, I end my turn here!" finished David.

"_This David is indeed a strong duelist_," Thomas thought to himself, "_And that that 'Power Tool Dragon' isn't a monster one should mess with, and I also can't help but feel that this isn't it's true power_," Finally, he drew a card, "It's my turn!"

* * *

**Turn Four**: Thomas Billinton (LP: 2250)  
**Deck**: 52  
**Current Hand (1)**: "Pot of Greed"

* * *

"Spell Card - 'Pot of Greed'! It lets me draw two cards!"

The cards drawn were 'Miracle Restoring' (Trap Card) and 'Spider Web' (Spell Card); the latter card was a good start.

"Now, I'll activate another Spell Card!" continued Thomas, holding another card out, "'Spider Web'! It lets me select 1 card in my opponent's GY that was sent there the previous turn, and add it into my hand."

A silk threat shot into David's GY and pulled out a card, which Thomas caught skillfully.

"The card I've chosen…" As Thomas spoke, he turned the card over and revealed… "…'Pot of Greed'!"

The blue-haired boy drew two more cards ('Magician Navigation' and 'Dark Magician Girl'). Both cards were good, but still not enough. Thankfully, Thomas had yet another way to draw more cards…

"I activate the first effect of 'Magician's Souls'," began Thomas, who took two cards ('Miracle Restoring' and 'Magician Navigation') from his hand, held them out, and sent them both to the GY, "I can send up to 2 Spells or Traps from my hand and/or field to the GY and draw that many cards."

He drew two more cards ('Magic Formula' and 'Magician's Rod'). His hand now contained 'Dark Magician Girl', 'Magic Formula', and 'Magician's Rod'; and those were the cards he needed.

"Next, I'll Tribute 'Magicians' Souls' to Tribute Summon 'Dark Magician Girl'!" announced Thomas, holding his right hand out.

Appearing onto the field was the lovely apprentice of 'Dark Magician' in blue and pink armor (Level: 6/ATK: 2000/DEF: 1700).

"'Dark Magician Girl'…" breathed David.

"She's many a male Duel Monsters fan's dream girl!" admired Sean.

Janice rolled her eyes, "Boys…" she grumbled.

Back in the duel field, 'Dark Magician Girl' had a serious look on her face as she started glowing all pink.

"'Dark Magician Girl's' effect!" announced Thomas, "She gains 300 ATK for every 'Dark Magician' or 'Magician of Black Chaos' in the GY," He then pointed at his opponent, "Dave, you've removed 'Magician of Chaos' from the game during your last turn, but I still have 'Dark Magician' in my GY!"

'Dark Magician Girl' grew stronger (ATK: 2000 - 2300). Unfortunately for David, things were going to get worse for him when a large magical textbook appeared in midair in front of 'Dark Magician Girl'.

"Next, I'll boost her strength even further with the Equip Spell 'Magic Formula'!" Thomas went on, "This will increase Dark Magician Girl's ATK by 700."

As 'Dark Magician Girl' opened and read through the textbook, she grew stronger as well as smarter (ATK: 2300 - 3000).

"(彼女の新しい力は「パワー・ツール・ドラゴン」の力を超えています!) Kanojo no atarashī chikara wa `pawā tsūru doragon' no chikara o koete imasu! (Her new strength exceeds that of 'Power Tool Dragon'!)," worried David, speaking in Japanese.

The Battle Phase then began, with 'Magician of Black Chaos' making the first move…

"'Magician of Black Chaos', attack 'Power Tool Dragon'!" ordered Thomas, "**CHAOS SCEPTER BLAST**!"

'Magician of Black Chaos' obeyed, twirling the scepter in his right hand before aiming and firing a blast of chaos magic at 'Power Tool Dragon'. David, however, sprung into action to try and save his monster.

"I activate 'Power Tool Dragon's' remaining effect!" he announced, just as the pickaxe-like weapon faded from 'Power Tool Dragon's' hand and resulting in it regaining its shovel-like hand, "If this card would be destroyed while equipped with an Equip Spell Card, I can send that card to the GY instead."

The Chaos Scepter Blast attack struck 'Power Tool Dragon', but the mecha-like dragon was able to shrug it off and survive being destroyed. David, however, still received damage from the attack (LP: 1500 - 1000).

"Your turn, 'Dark Magician Girl'! Thomas declared, "Finish 'Power Tool Dragon' off! **DARK BURNING ATTACK**!"

'Dark Magician Girl' obeyed, firing a powerful blast of black burning-like magic from her wand at 'Power Tool Dragon' vaporizing it, and causing David to yell out as the remaining magic struck him (LP: 1000 - 300).

"I end my turn!" nodded Thomas.

With Thomas's turn being over, David could take his turn and try to regain control of the duel. However, he didn't know if he could pull it off, considering his opponent was the '_**King of Games**_' after all.

"_Billinton-san is truly more than a formidable opponent_," David thought to himself, "_Do I have the necessary skills to defeat him? Or am I biting off far more than I can chew? Maybe I never should have come to this tournament in the first place_…"

All of a sudden…

"Dave, look!" called Sean, "Look at your right arm!"

"That mark under your sleeve is glowing!" put in Janice.

Pulling up his sleeve, David could see that the mark on his arm was indeed glowing.

"Cinders and Ashes!" cried Thomas, surprised to see the birthmark.

"It can't be!" exclaimed Emily, "That marking…"

This was a surefire sign that things were about to heat up, and the birthmark was something that Emily and Thomas had seen before.

"I won't give up, Billinton-san," said David at last, "I am going to emerge victorious!"

"Dave…" whispered Thomas, watching as his opponent drew a card.

* * *

**Turn Five**: David Xadashi (LP: 300)  
**Deck**: 48  
**Current Hand (3)**: "Morphtronic Lantron", "Cross Draw of Destiny"

* * *

"And here shall be the beginning of my winning comeback!" announced David, sliding his newly drawn card into a Spell/Trap slot on his Duel Disk, "I activate the Spell Card 'Cross Draw of Destiny'!"

The mentioned Spell Card materialized face-up on the field.

"Both players draw 1 card and reveal it, then if either of those cards was a monster, each player Special Summons their monster to their opponent's side of the field in face-up Defense Position, and then, if either player does so, the Summoning player(s) gains LP equal to the ATK of the monster they Summoned."

"I can draw a card, too," Thomas said to himself, before nodding and speaking aloud, "Alright… In that case, let's draw our cards!"

With that said, he and David both drew a card and held them out. These were the results:  
-Thomas: 'Dark Burning Attack' (Spell Card)  
-David: 'Monster Reborn' (Spell Card)

"Neither of us drew a Monster Card," said David, before smiling, "But, I can still bring one back," He slotted the card into his Duel Disk, "From my hand, I'll activate 'Monster Reborn'!"

The mentioned Spell Card materialized face-up on the field.

"Return - 'Power Tool Dragon'!"

In seconds, the mecha-like dragon returned to the field (Level: 7/ATK: 2300/DEF: 2500).

"Now, once again, I activate 'Power Tool Dragon's' effect!" David went on, just as his Deck shuffled by itself, "**POWER SEARCH**!"

Soon when the shuffling stopped, the top card of David's Deck slid out a bit. Drawing the card, he saw that it was a Spell Card called 'Dragon's Tranquil Barrage'(!). After spending a few seconds looking at the card, he added it into his hand and decided to play the other one he had first.

"I Summon the Tuner monster 'Morphtronic Lantron'!" The aqua blue-haired boy announced.

Appearing onto the field was a large, handheld flashlight, which also transformed into a humanoid robot (Level: 1/ATK: 200/DEF: 200).

"Can it be?" whispered Thomas.

"Billinton-san, by virtue of my deep-seated respect for you, I'm going to show you the true power of my 'Power Tool Dragon'!" began David, before the birthmark of the Crimson Dragon on his right forearm started glowing and reacting once more… "I'm Tuning my Level 7 Synchro Monster, 'Power Tool Dragon', with the Level 1 Tuner monster, 'Morphtronic Lantron'!"

As expected, both 'Power Tool Dragon' and 'Morphtronic Lantron' rose into the forming fire-like energy in the sky, causing the symbols 7 plus 1 equals 8 to briefly appear. The fire-like energy soon morphed into the Crimson Dragon, much to the shock of Thomas and the audience…

"That's-!" began Janice.

"It's the dragon that appeared during David and Vincent's duel!" added Sean.

"The Crimson Dragon," whispered Emily, "Thomas…"

Meanwhile, as the Crimson Dragon flew through the sky, David began a Summon Chant…

"_**The courage and power to protect the future of the planet is a Revolution**_!" chanted David, before his eyes started glowing all white, "_**Synchro Summon! Evolve - 'LIFE STREAM DRAGON'**_!"

The Crimson Dragon breathed out a large fireball, which dissolved back into 'Power Tool Dragon'. All of a sudden, its body armor started breaking away, giving the dragon a more flesh and blood-like appearance—although it retained the chisel-like weapon that 'Power Tool Dragon' had on its left arm. Now on the field, 'Life Stream Dragon' stretched its arms out and let loose a roar to signal its arrival (Level: 8/ATK: 2900/DEF: 2400). Soon, the Crimson Dragon let loose a final roar before fading away.

"So this is the power my Millennium Puzzle warned me about…" Thomas murmured, "This is 'Power Tool Dragon's' true form… And Dave is…"

"I activate 'Life Stream Dragon's' effect!" declared David, just as his LP instantly refilled (LP: 300 - 4000), "When this card is Synchro Summoned, I can restore my LP to their original state."

"Impossible!" cried Thomas, "Your LP have returned to 4000!"

"Correct!" David grinned proudly, "I'm back to full power!" He then took and held out his final card, "And now, I'll equip 'Life Stream Dragon' with 'Dragon's Tranquil Barrage'! The equipped monster can attack all monsters my opponent controls once each, but it must attack the monster with the highest ATK."

'Life Stream Dragon' began to glow in a white aura.

"In addition," continued David, "When it battles an opponent's monster, the equipped monster gains ATK equal to half of its current ATK during damage calculation only."

That was a very bad thing for Thomas…

"And now, I commence my attack!" declared David, entering the Battle Phase, "'Life Stream Dragon', your first target will be 'Dark Magician Girl'!"

'Life Stream Dragon' turned its attention to 'Dark Magician Girl'.

"Due to the effect of 'Dragon's Tranquil Barrage', the equipped monster gains ATK equal to half of its current ATK during damage calculation only."

'Life Stream Dragon' got supercharged (ATK: 2900 - 4350).

"**LIFE'S BEAUTY HOWL**!" commanded David.

'Life Stream Dragon' obeyed, breathing an extremely powerful blast of golden energy at 'Dark Magician Girl', causing her to scream as the attack overwhelmed and destroyed her.

"'Dark Magician Girl'!" Thomas cried, shielding himself from the force of the attack (LP: 2250 - 900).

Suddenly, as 'Life Stream Dragon's' ATK returned to normal (ATK: 4350 - 2900), the blue-haired boy began to glow in a white aura himself.

"(これは何ですか?!) Korehanandesuka?! (What is this?!)" gasped David in Japanese.

"The second effect of 'Magic Formula'," explained Thomas, recovering LP (LP: 900 - 1900), "If this card is sent from the field to the GY, I gain 1000 LP."

"My Battle Phase has not ended," David went on, "My next target is your 'Magician of Black Chaos'!" He then yelled his monster's attack name again… "**LIFE'S BEAUTY HOWL**!"

'Life Stream Dragon', growing stronger once again (ATK: 2900 - 4350) because of the 'Dragon's Tranquil Barrage' Spell Card still being face-up on the field, breathed another golden energy blast. 'Magician of Black Chaos' tried to block it with his scepter, but could only cry out in agony as his weapon broke and he got vaporized from the superior attack, also causing Thomas to scream again as he took more damage (LP: 1900 - 350).

"Amazing!" breathed Emily, "So, this is the true power of Dave."

"Dave…might actually win this duel," commented Sean, "He might actually defeat the '_**King of Games**_'!"

Back on the field, David was feeling rather excited.

"How exhilarating," he was saying, huffing and puffing with joy, "I have never felt so alive!"

"Well done, Dave, I'm deeply impressed," smiled Thomas, "So, you're one of the chosen ones of the Crimson Dragon, too, am I right?"

"How do you know of the Crimson Dragon?" asked David, losing some of his excitement.

"Thomas and I've met four other duelists who have been chosen by that dragon as well," Emily answered, "They said they were looking for the remaining two members."

David was surprised by the statement. He eventually shook his head, and tried to get focus back on the duel.

"Billinton-san, this duel is set to become mine!" declared David, "No matter what monster you Summon, 'Life Stream Dragon', especially when combined with 'Dragon's Tranquil Barrage', will take it down without any trouble! You have no chance of defeating me!"

Thomas said nothing in response.

"Don't you have anything to say before you take your final turn?" David pondered, wondering if Thomas was considering giving up.

At last…

"Are you sure about that?" replied Thomas, now smirking with confidence.

"(どういう意味ですか?!) Dōiu imidesu ka?! (What do you mean?!)" gasped David in Japanese.

"On my turn, Dave, I will win the duel!" Thomas declared, getting ready to draw his card, "It's my turn!"

With that said, he drew from his deck, performing the ever helpful Destiny Draw.

* * *

**Turn Six**: Thomas Billinton (LP: 350)  
**Deck**: 44  
**Current Hand (3)**: "Magician's Rod", "Dark Burning Attack", and "Keeper of Dragon Magic"

* * *

On cue, a Monster Card called 'Keeper of Dragon Magic' materialized face-up on the field.

"I Summon 'Keeper of Dragon Magic' in Attack Mode!" exclaimed Thomas.

Appearing onto the field was what looked like a wizard dressed in a blue armor that resembled a dragon (Level: 4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1300).

"I activate my monster's effect," continued Thomas, discarding a card ('Dark Burning Attack'). He then drew a card ('Polymerization'), "If this card is Normal or Special Summoned, I can discard 1 card and add 1 'Polymerization' Normal Spell Card or 'Fusion' Normal Spell Card from my Deck into my hand."

"Is he attempting a Fusion Summon?" David asked himself, before shaking his head and going into his thoughts, "_No, that's not possible; he likely doesn't have the right cards to do one_."

Those thoughts were shattered by what Thomas did next…

"I'm going to activate the next effect of my 'Keeper of Dragon Magic'!" The blue-haired boy cut in, "I can reveal 1 Fusion Monster in my Extra Deck and Special Summon 1 of the Fusion Materials whose name is specifically listed on that monster from my GY, in face-down Defense Position."

A card slid out from Thomas's Extra Deck, which he held out to show David.

"The monster I reveal is…'Dark Cavalry'! That means I can Special Summon one of its Fusion Materials. And one of them…is 'Dark Magician'!"

A face-down (sideways) materialized on the field. David began to feel a bit nervous now.

"He now has his 'Dark Magician' on the field," The aqua blue-haired boy realized, "Could he be planning to Fusion Summon 'Dark Paladin'? Perhaps that remaining card in his hand is 'Buster Blader'?"

But Thomas had something 'else' in store for David. As an extra surprise, 'Keeper of Dragon Magic' took hold of his staff and began to change shape. Within seconds, he had turned into a copy of 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon'.

"W-What the-?!" cried David.

"Dave… I cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck, except Fusion Monsters, the turn I activate either of 'Keeper of Dragon Magic's' effects," said Thomas calmly, "This is why I'm going to…" He then held one of his remaining cards out, "…do just that! I activate the Spell Card 'Polymerization'!"

The mentioned Spell Card materialized face-up on the field.

"Using this card," continued Thomas, "I'll fuse both 'Dark Magician' with 'Keeper of Dragon Magic', who will be substituting for 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon'!"

"'Red-Eyes', did you say?" stuttered David.

Over with the audience…

"What will 'Dark Magician' and 'Keeper of Dragon Magic' create?" wondered Sean.

'Dark Magician' appeared and dove into the Fusion Vortex alongside 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' ('Keeper of Dragon Magic').

"Now, come forth - 'Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon'!" shouted Thomas, standing in-front of the Fusion Vortex while bringing both hands together.

Appearing onto the field, as the Fusion Summon sequence ended, was what looked like 'Dark Paladin' decked out in 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon'-style armor with two large wings and a tail, and was wielding a much more powerful-looking weapon (Level: 8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500).

"'Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon'?" peeped Janice.

"This is the first time I've ever seen Thomas Fusion Summon that monster," whispered Emily.

Back in the duel field, 'Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon' swung his blade a few times before, with a loud cry (which had echoes of a 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' roar), getting into a battle ready pose.

"This monster was given to me by my best friend Percy Avonside," said Thomas, "It represents the combined might of our friendship—even when we have a fallout. And now you will feel this monster's terrifying power!"

"Terrifying power?!" repeated David.

"First of all, 'Dark Dragoon' has the ability to be immune from being destroyed by card effects," explained Thomas, "In addition, neither player can target this monster with card effects… However, what I'm aiming for is '_this_' effect; during my Main Phase, I can destroy 1 monster my opponent controls, and then, if I do this, inflict damage to my opponent equal to that monster's original ATK."

'Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon' charged a magic blast in his scepter and fired the attack straight at 'Life Stream Dragon', striking and destroying the Dragon-Type Synchro Monster in a massive explosion.

"'Life Stream Dragon' has been destroyed!" declared Thomas.

When the smoke cleared away, 'Life Stream Dragon' was shown…to still be standing.

"What happened?" gasped Emily.

"The effect of 'Life Stream Dragon'… If it were to be destroyed, I can banish an Equip Spell from my GY to prevent my monster's destruction," answered David, "Since 'Life Stream Dragon' was not destroyed, I won't sustain any effect damage from your 'Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon's' effect!"

"Nice try," smirked Thomas, before discarding the final card from his hand, "By having 'Life Stream Dragon' use an effect like that, I'll activate 'Dark Dragoon's' next effect! Once per turn, when a card or effect is activated, I can discard 1 card; I can then negate the activation, and, if I do this, destroy that card, and then this card gains 1000 ATK."

'Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon', due to the effect of 'Life Stream Dragon' being used, retaliated by rushing forth and slashing the enemy monster in half with his blade/scepter. This caused 'Life Stream Dragon' to roar in surprise and agony before exploding due to its own destruction, which also caused 'Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon' to grow stronger in the process (ATK: 3000 - 4000).

"'Life Stream Dragon'!" David screamed in shock and surprise, "You… you actually destroyed my dragon!" It was then he realized he was wide open, "And…I'm completely open for a direct attack!"

"It's Game Over, Dave!" declared Thomas, entering the Battle Phase, "'Dark Dragoon', attack Dave directly!" He then announced his monster's attack name, "**BLACK MAGIC FLARE**!"

'Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon' obeyed, raising, taking aim, and firing a powerful blast from his scepter, which hit David head on and caused him to scream as he went flying across the area before landing on the soft grass and laying still in defeat (LP: 4000 - 0).

* * *

**DUEL RESULTS: Thomas Billinton wins!**

* * *

As the holograms faded, David's friends came over to see if he was alright.

"Dave! Are you okay?!" worried Janice.

"Speak to us, man!" begged Sean.

David sat up, "How undignified…" he groaned, rubbing the back of his head, "But… I guess this is why Billinton-san is '_**King of Games**_'…"

Thomas and Emily both approached David and helped him to his feet.

"You put up a real good fight, Dave," Thomas congratulated.

"Great job out there," praised Emily.

"Thank you," smiled David, feeling much better.

"But there is something that I'm curious about," Thomas admitted, "You do not wish to socialize with new people, correct?"

David nodded, allowing Thomas to continue speaking.

"So, why do you wish to play Duel Monsters against different people if you don't want to befriend them?"

David opened his mouth to answer, but honestly did not know how to answer the question.

"We understand how much it can hurt to be picked on," admitted Emily, "Years ago, I was bullied by two of our friends, and in turn, I became a bully myself because I was too scared to let people know what was going on. But, if either of us held on to your idea of avoiding everybody, we would have grown up bitter and resentful, never having any true happiness. Not every person you encounter is like the bullies who picked on you. You just need to give them a proper chance and get to know them."

"Think of all you could be missing out on if you keep hiding away from the rest of the world," Thomas added to that, "The chance to forge bonds with those you come in contact with, the chance to surpass your limits. And most of all, the chance to find love. Although we won't try and force you to change your mind, we at least hope you'll someday consider what we've told you."

"_He makes a valid statement_…" David thought to himself, impressed with his idol's advice. At last, he spoke aloud, "I shall consider it, and proceed at my own pace."

"That's all we ask," nodded Emily.

"Who knows? Maybe you'll meet people who are a bit like you one day," suggested Thomas, before checking his watch and noticing what time it was, "Bust my Buttons, look at the time! Emily and I have a bus to catch!"

With that being said, he and Emily started to leave the area.

"Wait!" called David, causing Thomas and Emily to both turn and look at the aqua blue-haired boy, "Will I…ever see you both again?"

Thomas smiled again, "I think that might be a possibility in the future," he replied.

"When that will happen… That's entirely up to you," added Emily.

With that being said, the two teenagers took off to catch their bus in order to return home to Knapford City. David, meanwhile, looked at Sean with a hurt, disappointed look on his face.

"Sean, do you really believe I am a coward for avoiding others?" asked David, speaking in a truly hurt tone.

Sean felt uneasy, "I, err…"

"That wasn't very nice of you to call him a coward, Sean," scolded Janice, "Yes, I'll admit that his philosophy '_definitely_' needs to end, but what you said was a little out of line."

"Hey, I didn't mean to go that far!" Sean protested, holding both his hands up, "I was just getting sick of Dave constantly pushing everybody away instead of giving them a proper chance to be friends."

Ren, David's Father, then had his turn to speak severely to Sean…

"We '_all_' want David to stop with his philosophy, Sean," he was saying, "But that doesn't mean we have to turn our backs on him and lose faith that he will ever open up to more people. And going as far as to calling him a coward is definitely no help for his self esteem. Even then, it's entirely up to him if he wants to stop or not, and we have to at least try to support him in his decision."

"Everyone, can we please just go home now?" interrupted David, "I'm going to ponder on Thomas-kun and Emily-chan's advice and perhaps take it at some point. But, for now, I'm simply not ready to attempt to make new friends after going through the nightmare in my youth."

"We understand, David," sighed Janice, feeling sorry for her friend.

With that said, David and his group began to depart for their parked car (so Ren could drive Sean and Janice both home). But David, carefully pushing The Wild Card along, simply could not stop thinking about his rough time growing up…

"_It seems as though everywhere I go_," he thought to himself, "_People who learn of my ways are telling me that I need to '_**_Grow up_**_', '_**_Give people a chance_**_', and '_**_Stop living in the past_**_'. And now even one of my best friends has gone so far as to calling me a coward for it. When will it end_?"

It was then that David remembered something that Thomas had asked him…

"_**Why do you wish to play Duel Monsters against different people if you don't want to befriend them**_?"

At this point, the aqua blue-haired boy truly had no idea what to believe. However, he did promise to think about the advice he was given by both Emily and Thomas, but would he actually follow through with it? That, I'm afraid, is a story for another day.


End file.
